UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Eugene  E.   Trussing 


. 


A  NEW 


EARLY  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON, 


IS  CONNECTION  WITH  THE 


NARRATIVE  HISTORY 


POTOMAC    COMPANY 


BY 


JOHN    PICKELL, 


NEW    YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  346  AND  348  BROADWAY. 

1856. 


')•  ) 


•*•* 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 
D.    APPLETON    &     CO., 

in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  in  and 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


•      » 


•» 

%. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
T.    K.    AXD    P.    O.    COLLINS,    PRINTERS. 


•*"    * 


DEDICATION. 


V 


TO  THE  HONORABLE  JOHN  P.  KENNEDY. 

•^ 

I?    MY  DEAR  SIR  : — 

"*~~  *  • 

m  In  1823,  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,  the 

g   project  of  connecting  the  East  and  the  West,  through 

the  valleys  of  the  Potomac  River,  and  that  of  the 

.  *  most  convenient  tributary  to  the  Ohio  west  of  the 
«o 
2  mountains,  was  revived  in  the  form  of  a  proposition 

Q^  for  a  continuous  canal  navigation.     To  consummate 

ki  this  connection,  required  the  rights  and  privileges 

*U  secured  under  the  existing  charter  of  the  Potomac 

u.  Company  to  be  surrendered.     This  was  done;  the 

t    Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  Company  was  organized, 
5 

and  all  the  original  papers,  books,  records,  and  notes, 
belonging  to  that  time-honored  enterprise,  were  depo- 
sited in  its  office. 

My  connection  with  this  Company  for  several  years, 

as  one  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  enabled  me  to  collect 

« 

279554 


iV  DEDICATION. 

the  interesting  details  for  the  narrative  from  the 
materials  thus  deposited.  Their  arrangement  in 
chronological  order  required  much  care  and  labor, 
but  was  necessary  to  give  it  the  unity  of  history.  To 
preserve  it  in  this  form  I  was  not  altogether  prompted 
by  motives  of  personal  interest ;  it  appeared  to  me  a 
duty  to  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  that  was 
afforded,  to  give  the  authenticated  facts  to  the  public, 
however  unimportant  in  themselves,  in  which  the 
FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY  took  the  most  prominent  part, 
and  which  might  contribute  to  shed  additional  light 
upon  the  beauty,  the  harmony,  and  the  virtue  of  his 
illustrious  life. 

The  extracts  from  the  private  correspondence  of 
General  Washington,  and  for  which  I  am  indebted 
to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Jared  Sparks,  form  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  part  of  the  volume. 

In  appropriating  my  labors,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
their  introduction  to  the  American  public,  through 
the  name  of  one  whose  public  and  private  life  is 
distinguished  by  every  virtue  that  adorns  the  good 
citizen,  the  patriotic  legislator,  and  the  sound  states- 
man. Recognizing  in  him  also  a  highly  valued  per- 


DEDICATION.  V 

0 

sonal  friend,   I  felt  that  I   could  not  manifest  my 

appreciation  of  that  friendship  more  suitably  than 

* 
by  the  dedication  of  the  volume  which  adds  a  new 

item  to  the  history  of  the  life  of  the  greatest  and  best. 
I  am,  most  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


THE  conspicuous  part  it  was  the  glory  of  WASH- 
INGTON to  act  upon  the  theatre  of  public  affairs, 
during  one  of  the  most  eventful  periods  in  the 
history  of  the  world;  the  universal  dignity  and 
charm  of  his  demeanor  in  all  the  relations  of  life 
in  which  he  was  placed;  the  affability  and  disin- 
terested kindness  of  his  intercourse  with  others ;  the 
virtuous  simplicity  of  his  retirement  after  the  con- 
summation of  his  country's  independence;  the  har- 
mony of  his  public  and  his  private  life ;  the  purity 
of  his  patriotism  and  the  splendor  of  his  military 
career,  formed  altogether  such  a  union  of  goodness 
and  greatness  in  the  character  of  one  individual  as 
was  calculated  to  excite  the  warmest  interest,  and 
command  the  admiration  of  mankind. 

An  accomplished  classical  writer,  in  his  portraiture 
of  this  illustrious  personage,  truly  and  eloquently 
says:  "He  united  the  intrepidity  of  Aristides,  the 
patriotism  of  Cato,  the  military  prudence  of  Caesar, 
and  the  humanity  of  Scipio.  He  was  to  his  own 
beloved  country,  what  Themistocles  and  Solon  were 


viii  INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS. 

to  the  Grecian  States ;  and  what  Numa  and  Camillas 
were  to  the  Roman  Commonwealth." 

He  was  great  and  good  in  all  the  positions  he 
occupied. 

We  trace  him  first  as  a  simple  member  of  a  sur- 
veying party,  among  the  wilds  and  glades  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains — then  as  the  special  messenger 
from  the  Colonial  Governor  of  Virginia,  to  the 
French  commandant  on  the  Ohio — next  at  the  me- 
morable military  defence  of  the  stockade  at  the 
Great  Meadows — then  at  the  head  of  his  regiment 
upon  the  bloody  plains  of  the  Monongahela — as  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses — as  a  delegate 
to  the  first  Congress,  in  1774 — as  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution — at  Annapolis 
resigning  his  sword  and  his  commission  into  the 
hands  of  the  representatives  of  the  nation — after- 
wards as  President  of  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY — and 
finally  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union ;  and  closes 
his  career  in  beautiful  and  simple  retirement. 

Is  it  then  a  matter  of  surprise  that  there  should 
cluster  around  the  memory  of  this  illustrious  man, 
"  the  warmest  affections  of  the  American  people ;  the 
deepest  veneration  of  every  friend  of  mankind'? 

In  the  beautiful  and  appropriate  language  of 
Matthew  Henry,  "the  remains  of  good  and  great 
men,  like  the  mantle  of  Elijah,  ought  to  be  gathered 
up  and  preserved  by  successive  generations;  their 
sayings,  their  writings,  their  doings ;  their  examples ; 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS.  IX 

that,  as  their  works  follow  them,  when  they  are  gone, 
these  stay  behind  to  benefit  mankind,  and  are  their 
reward." 

Recognizing  the  force  and  propriety  of  these  sen- 
timents, the  compiler  of  the  following  pages  must 
congratulate  himself  that  an  opportunity  was  afforded 
to  him  to  rescue  from  oblivion  a  chapter  in  the  life 
of  a  man  that  so  honored  humanity,  and  to  gather 
up  in  a  form  to  be  perpetuated,  the  sayings,  writings, 
doings,  and  example,  with  which  that  chapter  is 
connected. 

However  unimportant  the  facts  may  be  in  them- 
selves, they  are  not  the  less  calculated  to  keep  alive, 
in  the  affections  of  generations  to  come,  the  memory 
of  him  who  was  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and 
first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen."  Let  us  be 
persuaded  that  while  his  memory  is  suitably  revered, 
the  integrity  of  the  Union  will  be  secured,  and  the 
blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  enjoyed  in  our 
country. 

The  extensive  correspondence  in  which  WASHING- 
TON was  engaged  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  with  the  leading  men  of  the  country,  relative  to 
the  great  subject  of  Internal  Improvement,  is  highly 
interesting,  and  is  in  fact  an  important  item  of 
history.  This  correspondence  shows  that  he  felt 
more  than  an  ordinary  solicitude  about  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  scheme  of  strengthening  the  bonds 
of  union  by  means  of  internal  communication. 


X  INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS. 

A  strong  feeling  was  early  awakened  in  favor  of 
the  specific  plan  he  set  on  foot,  among  the  public- 
spirited  men  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  even  before 
the  rupture  with  the  mother  country ;  and  after  the 
close  of  that  memorable  struggle,  it  assumed  a  more 
general  character,  and  was  emphatically  impressed 
upon  the  public  consideration  as  a  measure  of 
national  policy. 

The  original  history  of  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY  is 
the  nucleus  around  which  the  contents  of  this  mono- 
graph are  put  together;  and  the  narrative  corre- 
sponds almost  literally  with  the  record  of  proceedings 
of  that  company.  The  connection  of  the  compiler 
with  the  CHESAPEAKE  AND  OHIO  CANAI,  COMPANY  for 
several  years,  enabled  him  to  have  access  to  the 
books  and  papers  that  were  deposited  in  the  office, 
in  1828,  when  its  charter  was  surrendered.  The 
books  and  papers  were  collated  and  examined  with 
much  care,  and  disposed  in  their  proper  chronological 
order.  This  was  a  work  of  labor,  and  as  it  is  the 
groundwork  of  this  volume,  no  pains  were  spared  to 
make  it  as  complete  as  possible. 

The  particular  interest  which  attaches  to  these 
parts  of  the  compilation  flows  from  the  fact,  that  the 
proceedings  recorded  were  originally  drawn  up  either 
by  Washington  himself,  as  the  first  President  of  the 
company,  or  examined  and  reviewed  by  him  before 
they  were  transferred  to  the  books,  and  that  in  all 
the  histories  that  have  been  written  of  his  life,  not 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS. 


XI 


one,  as  far  as  the  knowledge  of  the  compiler  has 
extended,  gives  any  details  in  reference  to  his  con- 
nection with  this  enterprise,  and  of  which  he  was  the 
chosen  head  from  its  organization,  in  1784,  to  his 
retirement,  in  1788. 

The  material  facts  and  circumstances  embraced  in 
the  part  of  the  volume  which  precedes  the  narrative 
of  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY,  and  with  which  WASH- 
INGTON was  connected,  were  generally  obtained  by 
the  most  diligent  and  laborious  examinations,  from 
such  numbers  of  the  Colonial  Gazettes  and  publica- 
tions of  the  earliest  date,  as  the  compiler  could  get 
access  to. 

For  the  extracts,  in  the  third  part  of  the  volume, 
relative  to  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY,  arid  to  the  policy 
of  internal  communication,  the  compiler  is  indebted 
to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Jared  Sparks,  who  generously 
granted  him  the  privilege  of  using  his  valuable  collec- 
tion of  the  writings  of  WASHINGTON.  These  interest- 
ing extracts  present  in  a  clear  and  distinct  view  the 
sentiments  and  opinions  entertained  by  the  illustrious 
originator  of  the  measure  of  public  policy  to  which 
they  refer,  and  will  without  doubt  greatly  engage 
the  attention  of  the  reader. 


PART    I. 


A  NUMBER  of  years  anterior  to  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  project  of  uniting  the 
two  great  divisions  of  the  country,  separated  by  the 
Alleghany  range  of  mountains,  by  means  of  a  public 
highway,  was  entertained  by  some  of  the  most  pro- 
minent and  distinguished  individuals  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1753  Major  Wash- 
ington, then  only  21  years  of  age,  was  delegated  by 
the  Governor  and  Council  of  Virginia  on  an  import- 
ant mission  across  the  Alleghanies.  Having  been 
actively  engaged  during  the  greater  part  of  the  three 
years  immediately  preceding  his  appointment  in  sur- 
veying the  wild  lands  of  Western  Virginia  and  in  the 
mountainous  district  at  the  head-waters  of  the  Poto- 
mac River ;  and  already  possessing  a  deservedly  high 
character  for  energy,  firmness  and  decision;  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  feelings  and  pre- 
judices of  the  Indians ;  a  practical  acquaintance  with 


18  WASHINGTON: 

the  mode  of  living  and  travelling,  and  withal  accus- 
tomed to  the  privations,  hardships  and  exposure  of  a 
camp  life  in  a  wilderness  country,  the  attention  of 
Governor  Dinwiddie  was  readily  attracted  to  him,  as 
the  individual  who  combined  in  the  greatest  degree 
the  qualifications  suited  to  the  discharge  of  the  deli- 
cate and  responsible  duties  of  the  mission.  He  was 
accordingly  selected.  His  commission  (Appendix  A), 
the  letter  of  instructions  (B),  and  passport  (C)  were 
prepared  with  much  care,  and  formally  presented  to 
him  by  the  Governor  at  the  seat  of  government  on 
the  30th  day  of  October,  1753. 

Immediately  after  the  presentation  of  the  creden- 
tials, he  took  his  departure  from  Williamsburg  amid 
the  warm  congratulations  and  good  wishes  of  the 
Colonial  Government  and  numerous  friends  who  had 
called  upon  him  on  the  occasion.  He  first  proceeded 
to  Alexandria,  where  he  remained  several  days  occu- 
pied in  making  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the 
journey,  and  then  proceeded  on  his  mission  to  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio  by  the  way  of  Wills'  Creek.  After 
a  tedious  and  laborious  journey  of  nearly  three  weeks, 
he  reached  his  destination ;  and,  in  pursuance  of  the 
letter  of  his  instructions,  continued  there  no  longer 
than  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the  faithful  discharge 
of  the  important  duties  devolving  upon  him  under 
the  authority  of  his  special  commission.  On  his  re- 
turn, he  directed  his  course  to  a  more  southern  route, 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  19 

and  entered  the  valley  of  the  Potomac,  not  far  north 
of  the  sources  of  the  Shenandoah  River. 

Notwithstanding  the  inclement  season  of  the  year 
when  the  journeys  were  performed,  he  took  daily 
notes  of  the  incidents  as  he  proceeded,  and  sketched, 
with  remarkable  precision  and  graphic  power,  the 
physical  features  and  topography  of  the  country 
through  which  he  travelled.  On  his  return  to  Wil- 
liamsburg,  he  made  a  verbal  report  of  the  result  of 
the  mission  to  the  Governor  and  members  of  the 
Council,  and  presented  to  them  the  manuscript  journal 
of  his  travels  across  the  mountains. 

From  the  imperfect  record  that  is  left  of  his  per- 
sonal interview  with  Governor  Dinwiddie,  it  is  fair  to 
infer  that  he  availed  himself  of  the  occasion  to  suggest 
the  importance  of  opening  a  communication,  by  means 
of  a  public  road,  between  the  settlements  east  and 
west  of  the  mountains.  The  suggestion,  however, 
does  not  owe  its  origin  so  much  to  the  consideration 
of  facilitating  trade  and  social  intercourse  between 
these  two  parts  of  the  country,  as  to  the  idea  of 
affording  military  protection  to  the  remote  settle- 
ments, and  a  defence  against  the  aggressions  of  the 
French  and  their  Indian  allies  upon  the  territory 
claimed  by  the  British  crown. 

Previous  to  the  mission  of  Major  Washington, 
the  West  was  known  only  as  a  dense  and  extensive 
wilderness ;  traversed  by  watercourses  and  rivers ; 
broken  by  lofty  mountains  and  deep  valleys,  and 


20  WASHINGTON: 

inhabited  by  wandering  and  warlike  tribes  of  Indians. 
Few  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  Atlantic  colonies 
at  this  period  had  an  adequate  idea  of  the  character 
of  the  mountainous  belt  of  country  which  intervened 
between  the  westernmost  settlements  of  the  eastern 
declivity  of  the  Alleghany  range  and  the  western 
waters ;  and  no  disposition  was  manifested  to  explore 
it,  at  the  expense  of  the  enjoyments  and  comforts  of 
their  homes,  and  at  the  imminent  peril  of  their  lives. 
Huntsmen,  trappers  and  Indian  traders  were  occasion- 
ally seen  wending  their  way  through  its  dark  valleys, 
and  over  their  rough  and  rocky  acclivities ;  but  these 
laborious  and  dangerous  journeys  were  not  undertaken 
to  acquire  personal  knowledge  of  the  country  with  a 
view  to  its  occupation  or  improvement.  The  object 
was  gain  by  the  toilsome  prosecution  of  the  particular 
pursuit  in  which  these  adventurers  were  engaged; 
and  they  were  rather  more  inclined  to  magnify  the 
difficulties  they  encountered  in  traversing  the  country 
in  quest  of  hunting  and  trading  grounds,  than  to 
give  a  candid  representation  of  the  character  of  the 
soil;  of  the  broad  and  beautiful  valleys  and  noble 
streams  they  had  so  often  beheld  beyond  the  moun- 
tains. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  fortunate  for  the 
country  that  an  occasion  occurred  which  called  into 
active  requisition  the  services  of  the  youthful  Wash- 
ington, an  occasion  that  opened  the  bud  which  in  after 
years  developed  to  maturity,  in  the  perfect  greatness 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  21 

of  the  "  Father  of  his  Country."  By  the  energy,  the 
industry,  and  the  fearlessness  he  manifested  in  the 
progress  of  his  journey  through  an  almost  untrodden 
wilderness  of  several  hundred  miles  in  extent,  and  the 
intelligence  and  sagacity  and  judgment  displayed  in 
the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  mission,  he  drew 
around  him  the  unqualified  confidence  and  esteem  of 
the  authorities  of  Virginia.  On  his  return,  he  was 
immediately  complimented  by  a  military  promotion  to 
the  grade  of  Lieut.  Colonel  of  the  regular  forces,  and 
in  that  capacity  joined  the  brave,  but  ill-fated  Brad- 
dock,  and  his  army  in  the  following  year  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Youghiogheny  and  Monongahela  rivers  a 
few  days  before  the  disastrous  battle. 

Notwithstanding  the  entire  defeat  of  the  army 
under  General  Braddock,  there  were  displays  of 
military  skill  and  courage  on  the  part  of  the  officers 
and  men  which  embalm  their  names  in  our  grateful 
recollection,  and  adorn  that  otherwise  dark  page  of 
American  history  with  peculiar  brightness.  Among 
the  most  conspicuous,  Colonel  Washington  stood  pre- 
eminent. The  House  of  Burgesses,  which  convened 
at  Williamsburg  in  August  following,  unanimously 
passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Col.  Washington  and  his 
officers  "  for  their  bravery  and  gallant  defence  of  their 
country."  All  the  proceedings  of  the  campaign  were 
approved  and  applauded  by  the  people,  and  Wash- 
ington, thus  cheered  and  encouraged  in  his  patriotic 
efforts  to  serve  his  country,  his  determination  to  retire 


22  WASHINGTON: 

from  the  army  was  for  a  time  delayed,  and  the  chain 
of  events  which  connected  him  with  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  country  remained  unbroken. 

In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  brother  a  few 
days  after  the  battle,  dated  Fort  Cumberland  (D), 
July  18th,  he  says:  "By  the  all-powerful  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence,  I  have  been  protected  beyond  all 
human  probability  or  expectation;  for  I  had  four 
bullets  through  my  coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under 
me,  yet  escaped  unhurt,  although  death  was  levelling 
my  companions  on  every  side  of  me." 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Daviess,  subsequently  Presi- 
dent of  the  college  at  Princeton,  on  the  17th  day  of 
August  .delivered  an  address,  which  both  by  its  title 
and  tenor  is  so  remarkably  characteristic  of  the  times, 
and  so  prophetic,  that  I  cannot  deem  it  entirely  out 
of  place  to  refer  to  it,  and  introduce  a  brief  extract 
from  it.  "  Religion  and  Patriotism,  the  Constituents  of 
a  Good  Soldier,"  was  its  appropriate  title.  The  know- 
ledge of  the  defeat  of  Braddock  and  his  army  created 
much  alarm,  and  aroused  a  military  spirit  in  the 
country  of  the  most  effective  character.  Volunteer 
companies  were  organized  in  almost  all  the  colonies, 
and  the  sound  of  preparation  to  march  to  the  frontiers 
for  the  protection  of  the  settlements  was  heard  in 
every  direction.  Forces  from  the  north,  south,  and 
middle  colonies  were  ready  to  unite  and  place  them- 
selves under  the  command  of  the  gallant  chief  whose 
military  achievements  at  the  Great  Meadows  (E) 


HIS   EARLY  LIFE.  23 

and  upon  the  bloody  plains  of  the  Monongahela  had 
already  won  for  him  the  title  of  a  "  hero." 

The  reverend  speaker,  after  applauding  this  noble 
spirit  which  pervaded  the  country,  in  terms  of  the 
highest  pride  and  satisfaction,  paused  for  a  moment, 
and  then,  as  if  moved  by  inspiration,  continued:  "I 
may  point  out  to  the  public  that  heroic  youth,  Colonel 
Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Providence  has 
hitherto  preserved  in  so  signal  a  manner  for  some  im- 
portant service  to  his  country." 

Colonel  Washington  continued  in  the  military  ser- 
vice of  the  colony  until  the  termination  of  the  cam- 
paign in  1758,  when  he  resigned  his  commission,  and 
in  the  following  year  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses. 

An  interesting  circumstance  is  related  in  Wirt's 
"  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  illustrative  of  the  modesty  of 
the  distinguished  youth,  who,  for  the  first  time,  was 
introduced  to  a  legislative  body  as  one  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  is  so  characteristic  of  true  merit,  that  I 
trust  its  insertion  here  needs  no  apology. 

"A  short  time  after  Col.  Washington  had  taken 
his  seat,  the  speaker,  Mr.  John  Robinson,  in  obedi- 
ence to  an  order  of  the  House,  rose,  and  in  an  elo- 
quent and  impressive  manner,  tendered  to  him  the 
thanks  of  the  House  for  his  eminent  public  services, 
and  expatiated  in  language  of  the  highest  admiration 
upon  his  military  achievements,  and  the  importance 
of  the  services  he  had  rendered  the  country."  When 


24  WASHINGTON: 

-Washington  rose  to  express  his  grateful  sense  of 
the  honor  they  had  conferred  upon  him,  in  noticing 
his  public  services  in  this  distinguished  manner,  the 
biographer  remarks :  "  He  hesitated,  stammered,  and 
trembled,  and  was  so  much  confused  that  he  stood 
hesitating  for  a  few  moments,  when  the  speaker  re- 
lieved him  by  a  stroke  of  address  that  would  have 
done  honor  to  Louis  XIV.  in  his  proudest  and 
happiest  moment,  and  said,  with  a  conciliating  smile : 
1  Sit  down,  Mr.  "Washington ;  your  modesty  is  equal 
to  your  valor,  and  that  surpasses  the  power  of  any 
language  that  I  possess.' ': 

•  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  recorded  proceedings 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  this  session,  that  the 
subject  of  opening  a  communication  with  the  West 
was  introduced.  The  scheme  he  had  originally  indi- 
cated to  Governor  Dinwiddie  was  not,  however,  aban- 
doned; it  continued  to  be  cherished  by  him  with 
undiminished  favor.  In  his  personal  intercourse 
with  the  members,  he  took  occasion  to  commend  the 
project  as  worthy  of  their  favorable  consideration ;  and 
he  determined,  before  it  should  be  formally  brought 
before  the  legislature  of  the  colony  for  its  definite 
action,  to  supply  himself  with  such  facts  as  would 
show  the  feasibility  of  the  project,  the  expense  of  its 
construction,  and  the  advantages  that  would  flow 
from  the  proposed  improvement. 

For  this  purpose,  mainly,  he  made  several  tours  of 
examination  to  the  sources  of  the  Potomac  River  and 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  25 

the  country  intervening,  to  the  navigable  points  of 
the  western  waters,  in  the  years  1770,  1772,  and 
1774.  The  selection  of  the  best  route  was  of  the 
first  importance,  and  to  this  object  his  personal  efforts 
were  particularly  directed. 

Few  of  the  large  streams  issuing  directly  from  the 
eastern  and  western  slopes  of  the  Appalachian  chain 
were  known  at  this  early  period,  beyond  the  line  of 
settlements.  Their  sources  were  either  conjectured, 
or  located  upon  vague  and  indefinite  information, 
derived  generally  from  hunters  and  trappers ;  or  from 
those  whose  erratic  wanderings  from  their  temporary 
habitations  in  the  plains  and  depths  of  ravines  and 
valleys,  not  unfrequently  led  them  to  the  heads  of  the 
streams  or  opposite  sides  of  the  mountains,  and  ena- 
bled them  to  form  estimates,  with  tolerable  accuracy, 
of  the  distances  across  the  portage.  Well  defined 
Indian  and  traders'  paths,  connecting  these  points, 
intersected  each  other  at  various  angles,  and  greatly 
facilitated  the  explorations  of  the  summit  range. 
Several  surveying  parties  were  for  some  time  engaged 
at  different  points,  running  lines  and  marking  bound- 
aries ;  and  in  collecting  materials  for  a  map,  and  an 
analysis  of  the  middle  colonies.  Captain  Thomas 
Hutchins,  a  bold,  intrepid  and  intelligent  woodsman, 
led  the  advance  in  this  arduous  and  dangerous  ser- 
vice. The  surveys  and  explorations  of  these  parties 
were  noted  with  remarkable  correctness.  The  topo- 
graphical description  of  Western  Virginia,  and  Mary- 


26  WASHINGTON: 

land  especially,  exhibits  interesting  details  of  the 
entire  surface  of  the  eastern  and  western  slopes  and 
summits  of  the  mountain  range  between  the  State 
lines  of  Pennsylvania  and  North  Carolina. 

The  maps  that  were  plotted  of  the  several  surveys 
made  by  these  parties,  were  critically  examined  by 
Colonel  Washington,  and  materially  aided  him  in 
selecting  the  most  feasible  route  for  the  contem- 
plated communication  between  the  Atlantic  colonies 
and  the  Western  Territory. 

Naturally  fearless  in  the  pursuit  of  a  patriotic 
object,  he  allowed  no  difficulties  or  dangers  to  check 
him  in  the  progress  of  his  searches  among  the  gorges 
and  fastnesses  of  the  formidable  barrier  which  inter- 
posed, in  the  accomplishment  of  his  favorite  scheme. 
He  penetrated  to  the  very  fountain  sources — made 
laborious  reconnoissances  of  the  intervening  summits 
— strictly  scrutinized  all  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  their  ground,  and  took  ample  notes  of  the 
diversified  features  of  the  country,  within  the  range 
of  the  examination — thus  preparing  himself  with  the 
most  important  facts,  to  sustain  the  proposition  upon 
its  presentation  to  the  legislatures  of  the  colonies 
more  immediately  interested. 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  dated  in  1784,  ten 
years  after  his  last  tour  across  the  mountains,  in 
reference  to  the  route,  and  the  policy  of  opening  the 
communication,  he  says:  "I  have,  I  think,  clearly 
pointed  out  the  advantages  of  the  route  I  have 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  27 

selected,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  States  (Virginia  and  Maryland),  to  render  it 
facile." 

The  territories  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  being 
divided  by  the  Potomac,  made  it  the  interest  of  these 
two  colonies  to  be  proportionably  concerned  in'  the 
improvement  of  its  navigation,  and  the  extension  of 
the  communication  by  a  public  highway  to  the  valley 
of  the  Ohio.  It  was  evident  that  the  western  trade 
would  soon  be  a  matter  of  importance,  and  could 
only  be  secured  to  those  points  on  the  Atlantic  side 
to  which  the  earliest  and  most  improved  channel 
would  be  opened.  The  sagacious  and  observant  mind 
of  Washington  foresaw  clearly  that  the  great  western 
region  would  rapidly  be  peopled  by  an  energetic  and 
industrious  population ;  that  its  valleys  and  its  plains 
would  be  checkered  with  cultivated  fields,  and  mea- 
dows, and  villages;  that  its  numerous  navigable 
streams  would  be  active  channels  of  trade  and  inter- 
nal commerce,  and  that  the  multifarious  interests  of 
enlightened  and  prosperous  communities  would  soon 
extend  their  beneficent  influences  over  the  wide  val- 
leys of  the  Ohio  River  and  its  tributaries ;  and  that  a 
wise  and  just  policy  prompted  the  earliest  adoption 
of  the  measure  he  proposed  to  bring  before  the  legis- 
latures of  the  respective  colonies. 

It  was  the  invariable  custom  of  Washington,  from 
the  age  of  eighteen  years,  to  take  notes  of  the  most 
important  circumstances  and  events  in  which  he  was 


28  WASHINGTON: 

personally  concerned ;  and  whilst  travelling,  to  keep 
a  daily  journal  of  the  incidents  as  they  occurred  in 
the  progress  of  his  journey.  In  this  journal  he  par- 
ticularly noticed  the  peculiarities  and  fertility  of  the 
soil,  and  the  natural  growth  of  the  country  through 
which  he  passed,  to  which  were  added  such  reflec- 
tions and  considerations  as  the  occasion  would  sug- 
gest to  a  mind  equally  imbued  with  the  power  of 
close  observation  and  deep  thought.  This  custom 
had  acquired  with  him  the  force  of  habit,  and  ren- 
dered his  observations  both  highly  interesting  and 
instructive. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  the  western  tour,  in 
1770,  a  portion  of  his  journal  and  extracts  from  his 
letters,  to  some  of  his  friends  in  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land, were  published  in  several  of  the  Colonial  Ga- 
zettes, and  were  widely  circulated  and  read.  As  was 
naturally  to  be  expected,  from  the  character  of  these 
papers,  their  perusal  awakened  a  spirit  of  inquiry, 
and  with  it  a  strong  desire  among  the  energetic  and 
enterprising  of  the  youthful  population  to  emigrate 
to  the  west,  and  in  a  few  years  hundreds  of  that  class 
of  the  population  of  the  Atlantic  colonies  had  emi- 
grated thither. 

When  Washington  made  his  next  tour,  in  1774, 
he  was  surprised  at  the  change  that  had  already 
taken  place  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  River.  With 
a  mind  that  could  clearly  anticipate  the  future,  he 
beheld,  at  no  distant  day,  that  remote  wilderness  of 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  29 

the  great  and  extensive  West  the  abode  of  dense 
and  enterprising  communities ;  in  the  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  all  the  elements  of  social  and  political 
prosperity;  and,  to  hasten  this  consummation,  he 
regarded  the  opening  of  a  communication  by  a  public 
highway  between  the  East  and  the  West  as  of  the 
first  importance. 

Entertaining  these  views,  he  brought  the  subject 
before  the  House  of  Burgesses,  at  its  regular  session, 
in  1774,  and  urged  it  earnestly  upon  the  attention  of 
the  members,  as  a  measure  of  public  policy.  But 
striving,  for  a  long  time  in  vain,  for  aid  from  the 
colony,  he  was  compelled  to  change  his  original  design ; 
and  he  introduced  and  moved  the  adoption  of  a  bill 
to  empower  individuals  to  subscribe  to  the  enterprise, 
and  accomplish  the  improvement  on  certain  expressed 
conditions,  at  their  own  expense.  Even  with  this 
essential  modification,  the  project  was  opposed — the 
largest  share  of  the  opposition  coming  from  Central 
Virginia.  To  allay  the  hostility  from  this  populous 
part  of  the  colony,  an  amendment  was  incorporated 
in  the  bill  to  include  in  its  provisions  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigation  of  James  River.  This  mea- 
sure of  compromise  seemed  to  reconcile  the  conflict- 
ing sectional  interests  of  the  colony;  and,  had  time 
allowed,  would  have  secured  a  passage  of  the  bill  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses. 

But  the  prospects  of  a  similar  bill  before  the  Ge- 
neral Assembly  of  Maryland  were  not  so  encouraging. 


30  WASHINGTON: 

To  give  availability  to  any  enactment,  the  concurrent 
action  of  the  legislatures  of  the  two  colonies  was 
necessary,  so  far,  at  least,  as  regarded  the  improvement 
of  the  channel  of  the  Potomac  River.  Jealousies, 
and  the  rivalries  for  the  western  trade,  had  already 
grown  up  between  the  citizens  of  Georgetown  and 
the  merchants  of  Baltimore;  and  whatever  efforts 
for  aid  were  made  by  one  party  in  the  legislature, 
were  counteracted  by  the  other.  Applications,  me- 
morials, protests,  and  remonstrances,  followed  each 
other  in  quick  succession,  and  the  friends  and  advo- 
cates of  the  scheme  despaired  of  success  during  the 
pending  session. 

This  was  the  doubtful  condition  of  the  favorite 
project  of  Washington,  and  to  which  the  earliest 
energies  of  his  mind  had  been  steadily  directed,  when 
he  was  called,  by  his  appointment  (F)  of  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  in  1775,  to  Cambridge.  The 
war  which  immediately  followed  the  affair  at  Lexing- 
ton, in  April  of  this  year,  drew  the  public  mind  to 
more  engrossing  objects  ;  and  during  the  continuance 
of  that  memorable  struggle  for  national  existence  and 
independence,  and  until  the  retirement  of  the  illus- 
trious chief  in  1783,  the  prosecution  of  this  measure 
was  entirely  suspended. 

The  indications,  however,  in  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  were  sufficiently  favorable  to  encourage  the 
belief  that,  in  the  event  of  the  successful  termination 


*  *' 

HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  31 

of  that  contest,  no  further  difficulty  would  be  expe- 
rienced in  obtaining  from  that  body  at  a  subsequent 
session  all  the  powers  and  privileges  that  were  em- 
braced in  the  bill  of  1774,  and  which  were  considered 
entirely  adequate  to  carry  into  operation  the  original 
views  and  intentions  of  the  friends  of  the  project. 

In  Maryland,  the  prospect  of  eventual  success  was 
not  so  flattering.  The  union  of  the  merchants  of 
Baltimore,  an  enterprising,  intelligent,  and  wealthy 
community,  exercised  a  controlling  influence,  not  only 
over  the  deliberations  and  actions  of  the  General 
Assembly,  but  moulded  public  sentiment  in  opposition 
to  any  measure  which  was  supposed  would  divert  any 
of  its  trade  to  another  market;  and  precluded  the 
hope  that  any  future  session  would  in  the  least  abate 
its  hostility  to  a  proposition  of  this  character,  or  which 
did  not  directly  or  indirectly  promote  its  business  and 
commercial  prosperity. 


*  * 


PART    II. 


IN  1783,  the  war  of  the  Revolution  terminated  by 
a  treaty  which  recognized  and  acknowledged  the 
independence  of  the  United  States.  Soon  after  that 
memorable  event,  the  illustrious  WASHINGTON  resigned 
his  commission  (G)  of  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  into  the  hands  of  Congress  at  Annapolis,  and 
immediately  thereafter  proceeded  to  Mount  Vernon. 
where,  as  he  beautifully  and  feelingly  expresses  it, 
"he  hoped  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days,  in 
cultivating  the  affections  of  good  men,  and  in  the 
practice  of  the  domestic  virtues." 

Here,  in  his  favorite  retreat,  secluded  from  the 
cares  and  anxieties  of  public  life,  crowned  with  glory 
and  with  honor,  the  beloved  WASHINGTON  cherished 
the  hope  of  continuing  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  tran- 
quillity and  freedom  from  official  responsibilities  and 
cares  which  years  of  long  public  service  had  made 
particularly  desirable. 

Notwithstanding  the  agreeableness  of  this  retire- 

3 


34  WASHINGTON: 

ment,  he  did  not  abandon  the  favorite  enterprise  of 
his  early  years  (H).  Contemplating  from  its  quiet 
shades  the  wide  extent  of  country  which  had  risen 
from  a  condition  of  colonial  dependence  to  a  con- 
federation of  sovereign  §>tates,  he  was  the  more  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  the  measure  as  a 
matter  of  national  concern,  of  the  wisdom  of  the  policy 
of  connecting  the  East  and  the  West  by  a  public 
highway,  and  of  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  internal 
improvement,  of  which  this  proposed  communication 
was  to  be  the  introduction.  Fully  persuaded  of  the 
propriety  of  his  views,  he  opened  an  extensive  cor- 
respondence on  the  subject  with  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  sages  and  patriots  of  the  "  times  that 
tried  the  souls  of  men."  He  advocated  the  policy 
upon  the  broad,  patriotic,  and  lofty  principle  of  a 
common  interest,  or,  in  other  words,  of  the  general 
welfare;  and  although  General  Washington  cherished 
full  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  popular  institu- 
tions of  the  government,  and  in  the  inviolability  of 
the  UNION,  yet,  with  a  wisdom  and  a  forethought  at 
that  early  period  of  our  experience  peculiarly  his  own, 
he  regarded  the  facilitation  of  social  intercourse 
between  the  populations  of  the  extreme  parts  of  our 
broad  and  extended  territory,  and  the  mutual  inter- 
change of  trade  and  commerce  by  means  of  public 
roads  and  highways,  as  important  auxiliaries  in  bind- 
ing still  more  closely  the  sovereignties  of  the  States  in 
one  fraternal,  indissoluble  compact. 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  35 

The  enterprise  of  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY  was  well 
calculated,  in  his  view,  to  take  the  lead  in  this 
patriotic  scheme.  It  was  considered  feasible,  and  at 
a  comparatively  moderate  cost.  The  route  he  had 
suggested  embraced  a  wider  range  of  interests  than 
any  other  that  could  at  that  time  be  proposed  to  con- 
nect the  East  with  the  West,  the  Atlantic  markets 
with  the  fields  of  production,  the  purchasers  and  con- 
sumers with  the  producers. 

The  condition  of  the  country  under  the  confede- 
rative  government  rendered  the  policy  of  establishing 
a  judicious  system  of  national  internal  improvement 
obviously  apparent.  The  vast  extent  of  the  public 
domain  in  the  far  west,  and  in  several  of  the  States  ; 
the  importance  of  facilitating  the  transportation  of 
the  mails ;  the  establishment  of  post-offices,  and  en- 
couragements to  the  settlement  of  the  public  lands, 
were  among  the  principal  considerations  which  im- 
posed upon  the  government  the  imperative  duty  to 
aid  and  foster  the  system,  in  the  infancy  of  the 
existence  of  the  republic.  And  these  ponsiderations 
did  not  fail  to  be  fully  appreciated  by  the  FATHER  OF 
HIS  COUNTRY. 

Having  enjoyed  the  quietude  of  his  retirement  for 
a  few  months,  he  left  Mount  Vernon  on  his  first  tour 
to  the  West  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
on  the  first  day  of  September,  1784.  The  principal 
objects  in  view  were  to  examine  the  condition  of  his 
lands  in  that  country ;  to  renew  his  recollection  of 


36  WASHINGTON: 

the  features  of  the  dividing  ridge  he  had  formerly 
examined,  and  to  extend  his  observations  beyond  the 
limits  to  which  they  were  originally  confined.  He 
proceeded  directly  to  Fort  Cumberland,  where  he 
remained  a  few  days  to  prepare  for  the  journey.  A 
great  extent  of  wilderness  and  mountain  district  lay 
before  him,  and  through  which  it  was  not  only 
necessary  for  him  to  travel,  but,  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  intentions  which  mainly  prompted  the  journey, 
to  make  an  extensive  and  critical  reconnoissance  of 
the  summit  range  which  intervened  between  the 
head-waters  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Ohio  Rivers. 
This  was  not  an  easy  service ;  it  was  one  of  toil  and 
peril.  When  General  Washington  reached  the  first 
settlement  beyond  Fort  Cumberland,  he  was  advised 
of  the  great  dissatisfaction  which  prevailed  among 
the  Indians  inhabiting  the  country  at  the  sources  of 
the  Cheat,  Youghiogheny,  Monongahela,  and  Savage 
Rivers ;  and  was  cautioned  not  unnecessarily  to  expose 
himself  to  their  wiles  and  treachery,  while  he  would 
be  engaged  in  the  examinations. 

This  information  did  not  deter  him  from  his 
original  purpose,  nor  in  the  least  abate  his  zeal  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  patriotic  object.  He  devoted  several 
weeks  to  the  arduous  duties  he  had  assumed,  and 
supplied  himself  with  facts  and  arguments  of  the 
most  convincing  character  relative  to  the  route  he 
had  selected  for  the  proposed  communication.  His 
plan  contemplated  the  improvement  of  the  navigation 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  37 

of  the  Potomac  from  tide-water  to  the  mouth  of 
Wills'  Creek,  or  to  the  highest  practicable  point  of  the 
Potomac,  and  connect  it  by  a  road  or  highway  across 
the  portage  with  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Cheat, 
the  Youghiogheny,  and  the  Monongahela  Rivers ;  or 
more  directly  with  the  Ohio. 

After  having  completed  the  examination  of  the 
several  portages  across  the  mountains  and  of  the 
head-waters  of  the  streams  with  which  he  proposed 
to  connect,  he  returned  to  Mount  Vernon  on  the  4th 
day  of  October,  1784.  On  his  return,  he  took  a  more 
southern  route,  and  entered  upon  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  dividing  ridge  near  the  sources  of  the  Shenandoah 
River,  and  descended  upon  the  valley  at  a  point  not 
far  from  the  site  of  the  beautiful  and  flourishing  town 
of  Staunton.  The  entire  distance  he  travelled  during 
this  tour  exceeded  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Gene- 
rally, it  was  performed  on  horseback ;  but  in  numer- 
ous instances,  on  account  of  the  rough  and  rocky 
character  of  the  country,  he  was  compelled  to  dis- 
mount, lead  his  horse,  and  travel  on  foot.  With  few 
intervals,  the  routes  that  were  examined  lay  through 
uncultivated,  wild,  and  mountainous  districts.  Since 
his  first  exploration  of  the  country  in  1774,  the 
improvement  he  had  suggested  as  a  means  merely  of 
defence  and  protection  to  the  settlements  west  of  the 
mountains  against  the  hostile  aggressions  of  the 
French  and  Indians,  had  materially  changed  its  -cha- 
racter. It  had  now  become  a  measure  of  great 


38  WASHINGTON: 

national  importance,  both  as  regarded  its  effect  upon 
trade  and  upon  the  integrity  of  the  confederation, 
now  the  UNION  OF  THE  STATES. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  Mount  Vernon,  he  pre- 
pared an  interesting  report  of  the  proceedings  of  his 
tour,  and  the  convictions  of  his  own  mind  in  reference 
to  the  object  of  his  journey;  which,  with  a  transcript 
of  his  journal,  he  transmitted  to  the  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia. In  his  report  he  not  only  affirms,  but  clearly 
demonstrates,  the  practicability  of  the  project,  and 
recommends  it  to  his  favorable  consideration  with 
great  powers  of  argument.  He  forcibly  illustrates  the 
advantages  of  its  adoption  by  an  array  of  facts  which 
are  incontrovertible,  and  presented  in  the  report 
especially  for  the  consideration  of  the  legislature, 
as  arguments  indorsing  the  wisdom  of  the  measure 
proposed  as  a  means  of  strengthening  the  bonds  of 
union  between  the  East  and  the  West,  and,  besides, 
eminently  calculated  to  promote  the  general  prosperity 
of  the  States.  Upon  the  desirable  results  of  the 
adoption  of  the  policy  suggested  in  his  report,  he 
dwells  with  peculiar  emphasis  and  satisfaction.  To 
its  accomplishment  he  had  directed  his  earliest  and 
untiring  energies,  and  now,  at  a  maturer  period,  com- 
mends it  as  worthy  of  the  countenance  and  favor  of 
every  patriot  in  the  land. 

Entertaining  a  sincere  wish  for  the  success  and 
good  name  of  the  administration  of  his  warm  personal 
friend  Governor  Harrison,  he  adds  to  this  report  the 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  39 

If-   . 

following  language :  "  If  you  concur  with  me  in  the 
proposition  I  have  suggested,  and  it  is  adopted  by 
the  legislature,  it  will  signalize  your  administration 
as  an  important  era  in  the  history  of  this  country." 

On  another  occasion,  not  long  subsequent  to  the 
date  of  his  communication  to  Governor  Harrison,  he 
addressed  a  letter  of  similar  import  to  a  distinguished 
member  of  Congress,  in  which  he  recommends  the 
project  with  equal  earnestness  and  force.  As  a 
measure  of  public  policy,  he  remarks :  "  There  is  a 
matter,  which,  though  it  does  not  come  before 
Congress  wholly,  is  in  my  opinion  of  great  political 
importance,  and  ought  to  be  attended  to  in  time.  It 
is  to  prevent  the  trade  of  the  western  territory  from 
settling  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  or  the  British. 
But,  it  may  be  asked,  How  are  we  to  prevent  this  I 
Happily  for  us,  the  way  is  plain.  Extend  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  eastern  waters ;  communicate  them  as  near 
as  possible  with  those  which  run  westward — open 
those  to  the  Ohio ;  open  also  such  as  extend  from 
the  Ohio  towards  Lake  Erie,  and  we  shall  not  only 
draw  the  produce  of  the  western  settlers,  but  the 
peltry  and  the  fur  trade  of  the  lakes  to  our  ports ;  thus 
adding  an  immense  increase  to  our  exports,  and 
binding  these  people  to  us  by  a  chain  which  can 
never  be  broken." 

These  two  interesting  communications  contain  the 
first  suggestion  and  general  outline  of  the  system  of 
internal  improvements  which  was  afterwards  adopted 


40  WASHINGTON: 

t 

by  the  general  government  as  a  favorite  measure  of 
national  policy  (I),  and  continued  to  be  sustained  by 
Congress  until  the  year  1829,  when  it  was  abandoned 
in  consequence  of  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power  of 
the  Executive  relative  to  the  bill  appropriating  a 
specific  amount  for  constructing  the  Maysville  road. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  province  or  design  of 
the  compiler,  or  comport  with  the  nature  of  this  work, 
to  analyze  the  policy  of  the  system  to  which  he  has 
adverted;  or  to  enter  into  a  critical  examination  of 
the  local  or  general  effects  which  have  resulted  from 
its  adoption  by  the  government.  But  it  may  be  well, 
when  we  are  disposed  to  examine  the  principle  of 
this  measure,  as  a  matter  of  public  policy,  to  bring 
into  view  the  vast  extent  of  unoccupied  territory 
which  came  into  the  possession  of  the  government 
upon  the  achievement  of  our  separate  national  exist- 
ence ;  to  investigate  the  political  propriety  of  afford- 
ing facilities  for  its  settlement  and  improvement,  and 
the  importance  of  spreading  the  already  dense  popu- 
lation of  the  sea-board  communities.  With  these 
prominent  considerations  before  the  mind,  an  adequate 
conception  may  be  entertained  of  the  extraordinary 
sagacity,  wisdom,  and  foresight  of  the  illustrious  pro- 
jector, when  he  originally  suggested  the  particular 
enterprise  of  opening  an  internal  communication 
between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Ohio 
River,  and  more  especially  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  suggestion  was  made  long  anterior  to  the 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  41 

separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  dominion  of  the 
British  crown. 

At  this  early  period,  and  indeed  for  several  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  1789,  the 
population  comparatively  was  confined  to  a  narrow 
strip  of  country  along  the  Atlantic  borders.  The 
almost  unbounded  territory  west  of  the  Appalachian 
chain  was,  with  few  exceptions,  an  unbroken  wilder- 
ness, occupied  by  unknown  numbers  and  tribes  of 
Indians,  many  of  whom  were  of  the  most  ferocious  and 
savage  character.  Hence,  it  was  not  an  easy  matter 
to  stimulate  the  public  to  engage  in  enterprises  of 
internal  communications.  More  than  the  mere  know- 
ledge of  the  present,  was  necessary  to  secure  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  in  projects  of  this  nature.  The 
universal  respect  that  was  entertained  for  General 
Washington;  the  unqualified  confidence  in  his  judg- 
ment, and  in  the  wisdom  and  purity  of  the  purpose 
which  prompted  all  his  actions,  were,  however,  suffi- 
cient to  enlist  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia  to  entertain  the  proposition,  until  it  could 
be  brought  before  them  in  a  more  definite  form. 
Accompanied  by  his  distinguished  friend  and  com- 
patriot Marquis  de  Lafayette,  he  made  a  visit,  to 
Richmond  while  the  legislature  was  in  session,  where 
he  was  received  with  all  the  love  and  affection  which 
an  enlightened,  grateful,  and  patriotic  people  could 
bestow  upon  the  FATHER  OP  HIS  COUNTRY.  But  with 
all  the  honors  that  were  showered  upon  him  by  the 


42  WASHINGTON: 

authorities  and  every  class  of  his  fellow-citizens,  in 
the  most  unbounded  profusion,  the  favorite  enterprise 
of  his  youthful  days,  which  time  and  circumstances 
had  matured  into  a  scheme  of  national  character,  was 
not  forgotten  or  neglected.  His  letter,  previously 
addressed  to  Governor  Harrison,  was  communicated 
to  the  legislature,  and  referred  to  an  appropriate 
committee.  In  a  few  days  the  chairman  reported  a 
bill  in  accordance  with  its  views,  which  was  passed 
with  remarkable  unanimity. 

Having  accomplished  the  purpose  of  his  visit  to 
Richmond,  he  returned  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  from 
thence  immediately  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Madison, 
then  a  young  but  already  distinguished  member  of  the 
Virginia  Legislature,  on  the  subject  of  his  recent  visit 
to  the  seat  of  government.  In  this  letter,  he  earnestly 
recommended  (as  the  concurrent  action  of  Maryland 
was  necessary  to  render  a  bill  available)  the  appoint- 
ment of  commissioners,  invested  with  full  powers  to 
confer  with  such  gentlemen  as  might  be  selected  by 
the  Legislature  of  Maryland,  to  prepare  the  form  of  a 
bill  which  in  its  character  and  provisions  would  be 
acceptable  to  both  States.  Mr.  Madison  at  once  con- 
curred in  the  propriety  of  the  recommendation,  and 
immediately  moved  the  appointment  of  a  deputation 
of  three  individuals  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  its 
suggestions  into  effect ;  the  motion  was  adopted,  and 
General  Washington,  General  Gates,  and  Colonel 
Blackburn  were  appointed. 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  43 

The    deputation,  with   the   exception    of  Colonel 
Blackburn  (who  was  prevented  by  serious  indispc 
tion),  proceeded  to  Annapolis  about  the  20th  day  o 
December,  1784.     On  their   arrival   in  the  ancient^***  • 

metropolis  of  Maryland,  they  were  received  with  the   ^ 
most  distinguished    demonstrations    of  respect  and   {        f^Jili* 
confidence,  and  were  formally  welcomed  by  the  citi- 


zens  and  corporate  authorities,  and  by  a  committee  *  2+m* 

of  the  legislature. 


General  Washington,  in  behalf   of   the  Virginia 
deputation,  communicated  to  the  General  Assembly  Jf  ; 
the  object  of  their  visit.     A  committee  was  imme-  *2<> 
diately   appointed   by   the   legislature,  composed   of 
Thomas  Stone,  Samuel    Hughes,  Charles  Carroll  of 
Carrollton,  John  Cadwalader,   Samuel  Chase,  John 
Debutts,  George  Digges,  Philip  Key,  Gustavus  Scot,  /I 

and  Joseph  Dashiell,  Esquires,  to  confer  with  the 
Virginia  deputation  on  the  subject  in  question. 

A  meeting  of  the  delegations  was  held  at  Annapolis 
on  the  22d,  and  organized  by  calling  General  Wash- 
ington to  the  chair,  and  appointing  Randolph  B. 
Latimer,  clerk. 

Upon  assuming  the  chair,  General  Washington 
briefly  stated  that  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  to 
confer  together  upon  the  subject  of  opening  and  im- 
proving the  navigation  of  the  River  Potomac,  and  con- 
certing a  plan  for  opening  a  proper  road  between  the 
waters  of  the  Potomac  and  the  most  convenient  western 
waters.  That  the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the 


^n  '    -  t  44  WASHINGTON: 

commonwealth  of  Virginia  were  fully  authorized  and 

^*%>,  .  prepared  to  act  on  this  subject  with  the  committee 
•    «• 

*•»  -  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland. 

The  conference  then  proceeded  to  take  the  subject 

.         .          *  •* 

matter  referred  to  them  into  their  consideration  ;  and 

«    ^         '  after  a  full  discussion,  and  the  free  interchange  of 
<««.•• 

•    views,  a   committee  was    appointed,  and  after  due 

»!?*  ^      f  *  » 

^  *  deliberation    submitted  the  following  report,  which 

A'.  •«•«.,• 

i   ,  '"was  unanimously  adopted:  — 

i-  v  "  i 

'    •     ?. 

^  '  "  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference,  that  the  removing  the 

obstructions  in  the  River  Potomac,  and  the  making  the  same  capa- 
ble of  navigation  from  tide-water  as  far  op  the  north  branch  of 
the  said  river  as  may  be  convenient  and  practicable,  will  increase 
•,...'  »  .  the  commerce  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia  and  State  of 
Maryland,  and  greatly  promote  the  political  interests  of  the  United 
States,  by  forming  a  free  and  easy  communication  and  connection 
with  the  people  settled  on  the  western  waters,  already  very  con- 
siderable in  their  numbers,  and  rapidly  increasing,  from  the  mild- 
ness of  the  climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  conference,  that  the  proposal  to 
establish  a  company  for  opening  the  River  Potomac,  merits  the 
approbation  of,  and  deserves  to  be  patronized  by,  Virginia  and 
Maryland;  and  that  a  similar  law  ought  to  be  passed  by  the  legis- 
latures of  the  two  governments  to  promote  and  encourage  so  laud- 
able an  undertaking. 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference,  that  it  would  be 
proper  for  Virginia  and  Maryland  each  to  become  subscribers  to 
the  amount  of  fifty  shares,  and  that  such  subscription  would  evince 
to  the  public  the  opinion  of  the  legislatures  of  the  practicability 
and  great  utility  of  the  plan,  and  that  the  example  would  encourage 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  45 

individuals  to  embark  in  the  measure,  give  vigor  and  security  to 
so  important  an  undertaking,  and  be  a  substantial  proof  to  our 
brethren  of  the  western  territory  of  our  disposition  to  connect  our- 
selves with  them  by  the  strongest  bonds  of  friendship  and  mutual 
interest. 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference,  that  an  act  of  Assembly 
of  Virginia,  '  For  opening  and  extending  the  navigation  of  the 
River  Potomac,  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  tide-water,'  ought  to 
be  repealed. 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference,  from  the  best  in- 
formation they  have  obtained,  that  a  road,  to  begin  about  the 
mouth  of  Stony  River,  may  be  carried  in  about  twenty  or  twenty- 
two  miles  to  the  Dunker  Bottom  or  Cheat  River ;  from  whence, 
this  conference  are  of  opinion,  that  batteaux  navigation  may  be 
made,  though,  perhaps,  at  considerable  expense.  That  if  such 
navigation  cannot  be  effected  by  continuing  the  road  about  twenty 
miles  further,  it  would  intersect  the  Monongahela  where  the  navi- 
gation is  good,  and  has  long  been  practised. 

"  That  a  road  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  Turkeyfoot  would 
be  about  thirty-three  miles,  from  whence  an  improvement  of  the 
Youghiogheny  River  would  be  necessary,  though  probably  it  might 
be  done  at  less  expense  than  the  navigation  of  the  Cheat  River 
could  be  rendered  convenient  from  the  Dunker  Bottom. 

"  That  it  is  a  general  opinion,  that  the  navigation  in  the  Potomac 
may  be  extended  to  the  most  convenient  point  below,  or  even 
above  the  mouth  of  Stony  River,  from  whence  to  set  off  a  road 
to  Cheat  River ;  and  this  conference  is  satisfied  that  that  road, 
from  the  nature  of  the  country  through  which  it  may  pass,  wholly 
through  Yirginia  and  Maryland,  will  be  much  better  than  a  road 
can  be  made  at  any  reasonable  expense  from  Fort  Cumberland  to 
the  Youghiogheny,  which  must  be  carried  through  Pennsylvania. 

"That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference,  that  if  the  navigation 
on  the  Potomac  should  be  carried  to  about  the  mouth  of  the  Stony 
River,  a  communication  with  the  western  waters,  through  a  road 


46  WASHINGTON: 

from  thence  extended  even  to  the  Monongahela,  would  be  preferable 
in  most  points  of  view  to  that  by  a  road  from  Fort  Cumberland  to 
Turkeyfoot,  the  only  other  way  practicable,  and  in  any  degree 
useful ;  that  the  communication  by  a  road  from  Fort  Cumberland 
to  the  present  navigable  parts  of  the  Youghiogheny,  and  thence 
through  that  river,  though  in  the  opinion  of  this  conference  a 
second  object  only,  would  facilitate  the  intercourse  with  a  very 
respectable  number  of  the  western  settlers,  contribute  much  to  their 
convenience  and  accommodation,  and  that  the  benefits  resulting 
therefrom  to  these  States  would  compensate  the  expense  of  im- 
proving that  road." 


The  conferees  therefore  recommended  that  the 
Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  appoint  skilful 
persons  to  view  and  accurately  examine  and  survey 
the  Potomac,  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  the  mouth  of 
Stony  River,  and  the  River  Cheat  from  about  the 
Dunker  Bottom  to  the  present  navigable  part  thereof, 
and  if  they  judge  the  navigation  can  be  extended  to 
a  convenient  distance  above  Fort  Cumberland,  that 
they  may  from  thence  survey,  lay  off,  and  mark,  a 
road  to  the  Cheat  River,  or  continue  the  same  to  the 
navigation  as  they  may  think  will  most  effectually 
establish  the  communication  between  the  said  eastern 
and  western  waters.  And  that  the  said  road  be  cut 
and  cleared  not  less  than  eighty  feet,  and  properly 
improved  and  maintained  in  repair,  not  less  than 
forty,  nor  more  than  fifty  feet  wide,  at  the  joint  ex- 
pense of  both  States ;  and  the  conferees  begged  leave 
to  recommend  that  each  State  appropriate  three  thou- 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  47 

sand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  and  one-third 
dollars  for  the  purpose ;  and  the  conference  was 
further  of  opinion,  that  the  States  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  request  permission  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania to  lay  out  and  improve  a  road  through  such 
part  of  that  State  as  might  be  necessary  in  the  best 
and  most  proper  direction  from'  Fort  Cumberland  to 
the  navigable  part  of  the  Youghiogheny,  and  on  such 
permission  being  obtained,  that  proper  persons  be 
appointed  to  survey,  mark,  clear,  and  improve,  such 
road  at  the  equal  expense  of  Virginia  and  Maryland. 
This  interesting  report,  drawn  up  under  the  personal 
advisement  and  in  conformity  with  the  views  of  the 
illustrious  chairman,  and  signed  by  R.  B.  Latimer, 
Clerk,  was  in  due  time  submitted  to  the  Legislatures 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland ;  and  forms  the  basis  of  the 
legislative  action  upon  which  the  POTOMAC  COMPANY 
was  incorporated  and  organized. 


The  preamble  to  the  act  of  incorporation  declares  thai  the 
extension  of  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  River  from  tide- 
water to  the  highest  place  practicable  on  the  north  branch  will  be 
of  great  public  utility,  and  many  persons  are  willing  to  subscribe 
large  sums  of  money  to  effect  so  laudable  and  beneficial  a  work, 
and  it  is  just  and  proper  that  they,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  should 
be  empowered  to  receive  reasonable  tolls  forever,  in  satisfaction  for 
the  money  advanced  by  them  in  carrying  the  work  into  execution, 
and  the  risk  they  run,  and  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  cut  canals  and 
erect  locks  and  other  works  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  the 
Legislatures  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  being  impressed  with  the 


48  WASHINGTON: 

importance  of  the  object,  are  desirous  of  encouraging  so  useful 
an  undertaking :  Therefore  enact — 

That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  open  books  in  the  city  of 
Richmond,  towns  of  Alexandria  and  Winchester,  in  Virginia,  for 
receiving  and  entering  subscriptions  for  the  said  undertaking,  under 
the  management  of  Jaqueline  Ambler  and  John  Beckley,  at  the 
city  of  Richmond,  of  John  Fitzgerald  and  William  Hartshorne  at 
the  town  of  Alexandria,  and  of  Joseph  Holmes  and  Edward  Smith 
of  the  town  of  Winchester;  and  in  Maryland,  in  the  city  of 
Annapolis,  Georgetown,  and  Fredericktown,  under  the  management 
of  Christopher  Richmond  and  John  Davidson,  Merchant,  or  either 
of  them,  at  the  city  of  Annapolis ;  William  Deakjns  and  Benjamin 
Stoddert,  or  either  of  them,  at  Georgetown;  Joseph  Sim  and 
Abraham  Faw,  or  either  of  them,  at  Fredericktown ;  which  subscrip- 
tions shall  be  made  personally  or  by  power  of  attorney,  and  shall  be 
made  in  Spanish  milled  dollars,  but  may  be  paid  in  foreign  silver 
or  gold  coin  of  the  value;  that  the  said  books  shall  be  opened  for 
receiving  subscriptions  on  the  eighth  day  of  February  next,  and 
continue  open  for  this  purpose  until  the  tenth  day  of  May  next 
inclusive,  and  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  said  month  of  May  there 
shall  be  a  general  meeting  of  the  stockholders  at  the  town  of 
Alexandria,  of  which  meeting  notice  shall  be  given  by  the  said 
managers  or  any  four  of  them  in  the  Virginia  and  Maryland 
Gazettes,  at  least  one  month  next  before  the  said  meeting,  and 
such  meeting  shall  and  may  be  continued  from  day  to  day  until  the 
business  is  finished,  and  the  acting  managers  at  the  time  and  place 
hereinafter  mentioned  shall  lay  before  such  of  the  subscribers  as 
shall  meet  according  to  the  said  notice,  the  books  by  them  respect- 
ively kept,  containing  the  state  of  the  said  subscriptions ;  and  if 
one-half  the  capital  sum  hereinafter  mentioned  should,  upon 
examination,  appear  not  to  have  been  subscribed,  then  the  said 
managers,  at  the  said  meeting,  are  empowered  to  take  and  receive 
subscriptions  to  make  up  the  deficiency,  and  a  just  and  true  list  of 
all  the  subscribers,  with  the  sum  subscribed  by  each,  shall  be  made 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  49 

*  \ 

out  and  returned  by  the  said  managers,  or  any  four  or  more  of 
them,  under  their  hands,  into  the  General  Court  of  each  State,  to 
be  there  recorded;  and  in  case  more  than  two  hundred  and  twenty 
two  thousand  and  twenty  two  dollars  and  two-ninths  of  a  dollar 
shall  be  subscribed,  then  the  same  shall  be  reduced  to  that  sum  by 
the  said  managers,  or  a  majority  of  them,  by  beginning  at,  and 
striking  off  a  share  from  all  subscriptions,  under  the  largest 
and  above  one  share,  until  the  sum  is  reduced  to  the  capital  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  two  thousand  and  twenty  two  dollars  and 
two-ninths  of  a  dollar,  or  until  a  share  is  taken  from  all  subscrip- 
tions above  one  share,  and  lots  shall  be  drawn  between  the  sub- 
scribers of  equal  sums  to  determine  the  numbers  in  which  such 
subscribers  shall  stand,  on  a  list  to  be  made  for  striking  off  as 
aforesaid ;  and  if  the  sum  subscribed  still  exceeds  the  capital  afore- 
said, then  to  strike  off  by  the  same  rule  until  the  sum  subscribed 
is  reduced  to  the  capital  aforesaid,  or  all  the  subscriptions  are 
reduced  to  one  share ;  and  if  there  still  be  an  excess,  then  lots 
to  be  drawn  to  determine  the  subscribers  who  are  to  be  excluded, 
to  reduce  the  subscriptions  to  the  capital  aforesaid,  which  striking 
off  shall  be  certified  in  the  list  aforesaid,  and  the  said  capital  sum 
shall  be  reckoned  and  divided  into  five  hundred  shares  of  four 
hundred  and  forty  four  dollars  and  four-ninths  of  a  dollar  each,  of 
which  every  person  subscribing  may  take  and  subscribe  for  one  or 
more  whole  shares,  and  not  otherwise :  Provided,  that  unless  one- 
half  of  the  said  capital  shall  be  subscribed  as  aforesaid,  then  the 
President  and  Directors  are  hereby  empowered  and  directed  to 
take  and  receive  the  subscriptions  which  shall  first  be  offered  in 
whole  shares  as  aforesaid,  until  the  deficiency  shall  be  made  up,  a 
certificate  of  which  additional  subscriptions  shall  be  made  under 
.  the  hands  of  the  President  and  Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them 
for  the  time  being,  and  returned  to  and  recorded  in  the  General 
Courts  aforesaid. 

That  in  case  one-half  of  the  said  capital,  or  a  greater  sum,  shall 
be  subscribed  as  aforesaid,  the  said  subscribers,  and  their  heirs  and 
4 


50  WASHINGTON: 

assigns,  from  the  time  of  the  said  first  meeting,  shall  be  and  are  hereby 
declared  to  be  incorporated  into  a  company,  by  the  name  of  the 
"Potomac  Company,"  and  may  sue  and  be  sued  as  such;  and  such 
of  the  said  subscribers  as  shall  be  present  at  the  said  meeting,  or 
a  majority  of  them,  are  hereby  empowered  and  required  to  elect  a 
President  and  four  Directors,  for  conducting  the  said  undertaking, 
and  managing  all  the  said  company's  business  and  concerns,  for  and 
during  such  time,  not  exceeding  three  years,  as  the  said  subscribers, 
or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  think  fit.  And  in  counting  the  votes  of 
all  general  meetings  of  the  said  company,  each  member  shall  be 
allowed  one  vote  for  every  share  as  far  as  ten  shares,  and  one  vote 
for  every  five  shares  above  ten,  by  him  or  her  held  at  the  time  in  the 
said  company;  and  any  proprietor,  by  writing  under  his  or  her  hand, 
executed  before  two  witnesses,  may  depute  any  other  member  or 
proprietor  to  vote  and  act  as  proxy  for  him  or  her,  at  any  general 
meeting. 

That  the  said  President  and  Director  so  elected,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, or  a  majority  of  them  assembled,  shall  have  full  power  and 
authority  to  agree  with  any  person  or  persons  on  behalf  of  said 
company,  to  cut  such  canals  and  erect  such  locks,  and  perform  such 
other  works  as  they  shall  judge  necessary  for  opening,  improving, 
and  extending  the  navigation  of  the  said  river  above  tide-water,  to 
the  highest  part  of  the  North  Branch  to  which  navigation  can  be 
extended,  and  carrying  on  the  same,  from  place  to  place,  and  from 
time  to  time,  and  upon  such  terms  and  in  such  manner  as  they 
shall  think  fit ;  and  out  of  the  money  arising  from  the  subscriptions 
and  the  tolls,  and  other  aids  hereinafter  given,  to  pay  for  the  same, 
and  to  repair  and  keep  in  order  the  said  locks  and  other  works 
necessary  therein,  and  to  defray  all  incidental  charges ;  and  also  to 
appoint  a  treasurer,  clerk,  and  such  other  officers,  toll-gatherers, 
managers,  and  servants  as  they  shall  judge  requisite,  and  to  agree 
for  and  settle  their  respective  wages  or  allowances,  and  settle, 
pass,  and  sign  their  accounts,  and  also  to  make  and  establish  rules 
of  proceeding,  and  to  transact  all  the  other  business  and  concerns 


. 

THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  51 

of  the  said  company,  in  and  during  the  intervals  between  the 
general  meetings  of  the  same;  and  they  shall  be  allowed  as  a 
satisfaction  for  their  trouble  therein,  such  sum  of  money  as  shall, 
by  a  general  meeting  of  the  subscribers,  be  determined :  Provided, 
always,  that  the  Treasurer  shall  give  bond  in  such  penalty  and 
with  such  security  as  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or  a 
majority  of  them,  shall  direct,  for  the  true  and  faithful  discharge 
of  the  trust  reposed  in  him,  and  that  the  allowance  to  be  made  to 
him  for  his  services  shall  not  exceed  three  pounds  in  the  hundred, 
for  the  disbursements  by  him  made ;  and  that  no  officer  in  the  said 
company  shall  have  any  vote  in  the  settlement  or  passing  of  his 
own  account. 

That  the  said  President  and  Directors  and  their  successors,  or  a 
majority  of  them,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority,  from  time  to 
time,  as  money  shall  be  wanted,  to  make  and  sign  orders  for  that 
purpose,  and  direct  at  what  time,  and  in  what  proportion,  the  pro- 
prietors shall  advance  and  pay  off  the  sums  subscribed,  which 
orders  shall  be  advertised  at  least  one  month  in  the  Virginia  and 
Maryland  Gazettes ;  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered 
to  demand  and  receive  of  the  several  proprietors,  from  time  to  time, 
the  sums  of  money  so  ordered  to  be  advanced  for  carrying  on  and 
executing,  or  repairing  and  keeping  in  order  the  said  works,  until 
the  sums  to  be  deposited  into  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer,  to  be  by 
him  disbursed  and  paid  out  as  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or 
a  majority  of  them,  shall  order  and  direct.  And  if  any  of  the 
said  proprietors  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  pay  their  said  proportions 
within  one  month  after  the  same  so  ordered  and  advertised  as 
aforesaid,  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them, 
may  sell  at  auction  and  convey  to  the  purchaser,  the  share  or 
shares  of  such  proprietor  so  refusing  or  neglecting  payment,  giving 
at  least  one  month's  notice  of  the  sale  in  the  Yirginia  and  Mary- 
land Gazettes,  and  after  retaining  the  sum  due,  and  charges  of  sale 
out  of  the  money  produced  thereby,  they  shall  refund  and  pay  the 
overplus,  if  any,  to  the  former  owner ;  and  if  such  sale  shall  not 


52  WASHINGTON: 

produce  the  fall  sum  ordered  and  directed  to  be  advanced  as  afore- 
said, with  the  incidental  charges,  the  said  President  and  Directors, 
or  a  majority  of  them,  may  in  the  name  of  the  company,  sue  for  and 
recover  the  balance  by  action  of  debt,  or  on  the  case;  and  the  said 
purchaser  or  purchasers  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  rules  and 
regulations,  as  if  the  said  sale  and  conveyance  had  been  made  by 
the  original  proprietor,  and  to  continue  the  succession  of  the  said 
President  and  Directors,  and  to  keep  up  the  same  number. 

That,  from  time  to  time,  upon  the  expiration  of  the  said  term 
for  which  the  said  President  and  Directors  were  appointed,  the 
proprietors  of  the  said  company,  at  the  next  general  meeting,  shall 
either  continue  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or  any  of  them, 
or  shall  choose  others  in  their  stead  ;  and  in  case  of  the  death, 
removal,  resignation,  or  incapacity  of  the  President,  or  any  of  the 
said  Directors,  may  and  shall,  in  manner  aforesaid,  elect  any  other 
person  or  persons,  to  be  President  and  Directors,  in  the  room  of 
him  or  them  so  dying,  removing,  or  resigning  ;  and  may  at  any 
of  their  general  meetings,  remove  the  President,  or  any  of  the 
Directors,  and  appoint  others,  for  and  during  the  remainder  of  the 
term  for  which  such  person  or  persons  were  at  first  to  have  acted. 
That  every  President  and  Director,  before  he  acts  as  such,  shall 
take  an  oath  or  affirmation,  for  the  due  execution  of  his  office. 

That  the  presence  of  proprietors,  having  one  hundred  shares  at 
the  least,  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  general  meeting ;  and 
that  th,ere  be  a  general  meeting  of  proprietors  on  the  first  Monday 
in  August  in  every  year,  at  such  convenient  town  as  shall,  from 
time  to  time,  be  appointed  by  the  said  general  meeting  ;  but  if  a 
sufficient  number  shall  not  attend  on  that  day,  the  proprietors  who 
do  attend,  may  adjourn  such  meeting  from  day  to  day,  till  a 
general  meeting  of  proprietors  shall  be  had,  which  may  be  con- 
tinued from  day  to  day,  until  the  business  of  the  company  is 
finished ;  to  which  meeting  the  President  and  Directors  shall  make 
report,  and  render  distinct  and  just  accounts  of  all  their  proceed- 
ings, and  on  finding  them  fairly  and  justly  stated,  the  proprietors 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  53 

then  present,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  give  a  certificate  thereof, 
a  duplicate  of  which  shall  be  entered  on  the  said  company's  books; 
and  at  such  yearly  general  meetings,  after  leaving  in  the  hands  of 
the  Treasurer  such  sum  as  the  proprietors,  or  a  majority  of  them, 
shall  judge  necessary  for  repairs  and  contingent  charges,  an  equal 
dividend  of  all  the  net  profits,  arising  from  the  tolls  hereby 
granted,  shall  be  ordered,  and  made  to  and  among  all  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  said  company,  in  proportion  to  their  several  shares ; 
and  upon  any  emergency  in  the  interval  between  the  said  yearly 
meetings,  the  said  President,  or  a  majority  of  the  said  Directors, 
may  appoint  a  general  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  said 
company,  at  any  convenient  town,  giving  at  least  one  month's 
previous  notice  in  the  Maryland  and  Yirginia  Gazettes,  which 
meeting  may  be  adjourned  and  continued  as  aforesaid. 

That  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  expenses  the  said  pro- 
prietors will  be  at,  not  only  in  cutting  the  said  canals,  erecting 
locks  and  other  works,  for  opening  the  different  falls  of  the  said 
river,  and  in  improving  and  extending  the  navigation  thereof,  but 
in  maintaining  and  keeping  the  same  in  repair,  the  said  canal  and 
works,  with  all  their  profits,  shall  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby 
vested  in  the  said  proprietors,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  forever,  as 
tenants  in  common,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  shares ;  and 
the  same  shall  be  deemed  real  estate,,  and  be  forever  exempt  from 
payment  of  any  tax,  imposition,  or  assessment  whatsoever;  and 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  President  and  Directors  at 
all  times,  forever  hereafter,  to  demand  and  receive,  at  the  nearest 
convenient  place  below  the  mouth  of  the  South  Branch,  and  at  or 
near  Payne's  Falls,  and  at  or  above  the  Great  Palls  of  the  River 
Potomac,  and  every  of  these  places  separately,  for  all  commodities, 
transported  through  either  of  them  respectively,  tolls,  according  to 
the  following  table  and  rates,  to  wit : — 


54 


WASHINGTON: 


COMMODITIES. 

TOLLS. 

At  the 
mouth  of 
the  South 
Branch. 

At  Payne's 
Falls. 

At  the 
Great  Falls. 

£     s.     d. 

£ 

8. 

d. 

£ 

s.     d. 

Every  pipe  or  hogshead  of  wine  contain- 

ing more  than  65  gallons 

016 

0 

I 

6 

0 

3     0 

Every  hogshead  of  rum  or  other  spirits     . 

013 

0 

1 

3 

0 

2    6 

Every  hogshead  of  tobacco 

010 

0 

1 

0 

0 

2     0 

Every  cask  between  65  and  35  gallons, 

one-half  of  a  pipe  or  hogshead  ;  barrels 

one-fourth  part;  and  smaller  casks  or 

kegs   in    proportion,  according   to  the 

quality  and  quantity  of  their  contents 

of  wine  or  spirits. 

For  casks  of  linseed  oil,  the  same  as  spirits. 

Every  bushel  of  wheat,  peas,  beans,  or 

flaxseed        ...... 

0     0       £ 

0 

0 

i 

0 

0     1 

Every  bushel   of  Indian   corn,   or  other 

grain  or  salt          ..... 

0     0      i 

0 

0 

i 

0 

o     i 

Every  barrel  of  pork         .... 

006 

0 

0 

6 

0 

1     0 

Every  barrel  of  beef         .... 

004 

0 

0 

4 

.0 

0     8 

Every  barrel  of  flour        .... 

003 

0 

0 

3 

0 

0     6 

Every  ton  of  hemp,  flax,  potash,  bar  or 

manufactured  iron        .         .         . 

026 

0 

2 

6 

0 

5     0 

Every  ton  of  pig  iron  or  castings 

0     0  10 

0 

0  10 

0 

1     8 

Every  ton  of  copper,  lead,  or  other  ore 

other  than  iron  ore        .... 

020 

0 

2 

0 

0 

4     0 

Every  ton  of  stone  or  iron  ore  . 

005 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0  10 

Every  hundred  bushels  of  lime 

013 

0 

1 

3 

0 

2     6 

Every  chaldron  of  coals   .... 

005 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0  10 

Every  hundred  pipe  staves 

0     0    2} 

0 

0 

2J 

0 

0     4| 

Every  hundred  hogshead  staves,  or  pipe 

orhogshead  heading    .... 

0     0     1£ 

,0 

0 

l-> 

0 

0    3 

Every  hundred   cubic   feet   of  plank   or 

scantling  ; 

Every  hundred  cubic  feet  of  other  timber  ; 

Every  gross  hundred  weight  of  all  other 

commodities  and  packages  ; 

And  every  empty  boat  or  vessel  which 

has  not  commodities  on  board  to  yield 

so  much,  except  an  empty  boat  or  ves- 

sel returning,  whose  load  has  already 

paid,  at  the  respective  places,  the  sums 

fixed  at  each,  in  which  case  she  is  to 

repass  toll  free      ..... 

0    2     6  j  0 

2 

6 

0 

5     0 

which  tolls  are  rated  in  sterling  money,  and  may  be  discharged  in 
foreign  gold  or  silver  coin  of  the  present  fineness  at  the  following 
rates,  to  wit : — 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.  55 

£.      s.      d, 

Spanish  milled  piece  of  eight,  or  dollar      .         .         .046 
Other  coined  silver,  of  equal  fineness,  per  ounce         .051^ 
English  milled  crowns        .         .         .         .         .         .050 

French  silver  crowns      '     .         .         .         .         .         .050 

Johannes,  weighing  eighteen  pennyweights  .  .  3  12  0 
Half  Johannes,  weighing  nine  pennyweights  .  .116  0 
Moidores,  weighing  six  pennyweights  eighteen  grains  170 
English  Guineas,  weighing  five  pennyweights  six 

grains 110 

French   Guineas,  weighing   five   pennyweights  five 

grains 1       0     10 

Doubloons,  weighing  seventeen  pennyweights  .  .363 
Spanish  pistoles,  weighing  four  pennyweights  six 

grains 0    16       6 

French  milled  pistoles,  weighing  four  pennyweights 

and  four  grains       .         .         .         .         .         .         .     0    16      4 

Arabian  chequins,  weighing  two  pennyweights  three 

grains     .         . 086 

Other  gold  coin  (German  excepted)  by  the  penny- 
weight   040 

It  is  however  provided,  that  should  any  of  the  coins  above 
enumerated,  hereafter  be  rendered  less  valuable  than  they  are  at 
present,  either  by  lessening  their  weight,  or  therewith  adding  a 
greater  quantity  of  alloy  than  is  in  them  respectively  at  present, 
then  so  much  of  any  of  the  said  coins,  the  value  of  which  is  so 
reduced,  to  be  received  for  the  tolls  aforesaid  as  is  equal  in  value 
to  the  said  coins  in  their  present  state  of  fineness  and  weight,  shall 
be  payable  for  the  said  tolls  at  their  reduced  value  only.  And  in 
case  of  refusal  or  neglect  to  pay  the  tolls  at  the  time  of  offering  to 
pass  through  any  of  the  said  places,  and  previous  to  the  vessel's 
passing  through  the  same,  the  collectors  of  the  said  tolls  may  law- 
fully refuse  passage  to  such  vessels  ;  and  if  any  vessel  shall  pass 
without  paying  the  said  toll,  then  the  said  collectors  may  seize 
such  vessel,  wherever  found,  and  sell  the  same  at  auction  for  ready 
money,  which,  so  far  as  is  necessary,  shall  be  applied  towards 


56  WASHINGTON: 

paying  the  said  toll,  and  all  expenses  of  seizure  and  sale,  and  the 
balance,  if  any,  shall  be  paid  to  the  owner,  and  the  person  having 
the  direction  of  such  vessel  shall  be  liable  for  such  toll,  if  the  same 
is  not  paid  by  sale  of  such  vessel  as  aforesaid  :  Provided,  that  the 
said  proprietors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  holding,  at  least,  three 
hundred  shares,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority,  at  any 
general  meeting,  to  lessen  the  said  tolls  or  any  of  them;  or  to 
determine  that  any  article  may  pass  free  of  toll. 

That  the  said  river,  and  the  works  to  be  erected  thereon  in  virtue 
of  this  act,  when  completed,  shall  forever  thereafter  be  esteemed 
and  taken  to  be  navigable  as  a  public  highway,  free  for  the  trans- 
portation of  all  goods,  commodities,  or  produce,  whatsoever,  on 
payment  of  the  tolls  imposed  by  this  act ;  and  no  other  toll  or  tax 
whatever,  for  the  use  of  the  water  of  the  said  river,  and  the  works 
thereon  erected,  shall  at  any  time  hereafter  be  imposed,  by  both  or 
either  of  the  said  States,  subject,  nevertheless,  to  such  regulations 
as  the  legislatures  of  the  said  States  may  concur  in,  to  prevent 
the  importation  of  prohibited  goods,  or  to  prevent  fraud  in  evading 
the  payment  of  duties  imposed  in  both  or  either  of  the  said  States, 
on  goods  imported  into  either  of  them.  And  whereas  it  is  neces- 
sary for  the  making  of  said  canal,  locks,  or  other  works,  that  a 
provision  should  be  made  for  condemning  a  quantity  of  land  for 
the  purpose : 

That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  President  and 
Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  to  agree  with  the  owners  of  any 
land  through  which  the  said  canal  is  intended  to  pass,  for  the 
purchase  thereof,  and  in  case  of  disagreement,  or  in  case  the  owner 
thereof  shall  be  a  feme  covert,  under  age,  non  compos,  or  out  of  the 
State,  on  application  to  any  two  justices  of  the  county,  in  which 
such  land  shall  lie,  the  said  justices  shall  issue  their  warrant  under 
their  hands,  to  the  sheriff  of  their  county,  to  summon  a  jury  of 
twenty-four  inhabitants  of  his  county,  of  property  and  reputation, 
not  related  to  the  parties,  nor  in  any  manner  interested,  to  meet 
on  the  land  to  be  valued,  at  a  day  to  be  expressed  in  the  warrant 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  57 

not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  twenty  days  thereafter  ;  and  the 
sheriff,  upon  receiving  the  said  warrant,  shall  forthwith  summon 
the  said  jury,  and  when  met,  provided  that  not  less  than  twelve  do 
appear,  shall  administer  an  oath  or  affirmation  to  every  juryman 
that  shall  appear  "  that  he  will  faithfully,  justly,  and  impartially 
value  the  land  (not  exceeding  in  any  case  the  width  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet),  and  all  damages  the  owner  thereof  shall  sustain  by 
the  cutting  the  canal  through  such  land,  according  to  the  best  of 
his  skill  and  judgment ;  and  that,  in  such  valuation,  he  will  not 
spare  any  person  through  favor  or  affection,  nor  any  person  grieve 
through  malice,  hatred,  or  ill-will."  And  the  inquisition  thereof 
taken,  shall  be  signed  by  the  sheriff,  and  some  twelve  or  more  of 
the  jury,  and  returned  by  the  sheriff,  to  the  clerk  of  his  county,  to 
be  by  him  recorded.  And  upon  every  such  valuation,  the  jury  is 
hereby  directed  to  describe  and  ascertain  the  bounds  of  the  land 
by  them  valued,  and  their  valuation  shall  be  conclusive  on  all 
persons,  and  shall  be  paid  by  the  said  President  and  Directors,  to 
the  owner  of  the  land  or  his  legal  representative ;  and  on  payment 
thereof,  the  said  company  shall  be  seized  in  fee  of  such  land,  as  if 
conveyed  by  the  owner  to  them,  and  their  successors  by  legal  con- 
veyance :  Provided,  nevertheless,  that  if  any  further  damage  shall 
arise  to  any  proprietor  of  land  in  consequence  of  opening  such 
canal,  or  in  erecting  such  works,  than  had  been  before  considered 
and  valued,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  such  proprietor,  as  often 
as  any  such  new  damage  shall  happen,  by  application  to,  and  a 
warrant  from,  any  two  justices  of  the  county  where  the  lands  lie, 
to  have  such  further  damage  valued  by  a  jury  in  like  manner,  and 
to  receive  and  recover  the  same  of  the  said  President  and  Directors. 
But  nothing  herein  shall  be  taken  or  construed  to  entitle  the  pro- 
prietor of  any  such  land  to  recover  compensation  for  any  damages 
which  may  happen  to  any  mills,  forges,  or  other  water-works  or 
improvements,  which  shall  be  begun  or  erected  by  such  proprietor, 
after  such  first  valuation,  unless  the  said  damage  is  wilfully  or 
maliciously  done  by  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or  some 
person  by  their  authority. 


58  WASHINGTON: 

That  the  said  President  and 'Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them, 
are  hereby  authorized  to  agree  with  the  proprietors  for  the  purchase 
of  a  quantity  of  land,  not  exceeding  one  acre,  at  or  near  each  of 
the  said  places  of  receipt  of  tolls  aforesaid,  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  necessary  buildings ;  and  in  case  of  disagreement,  or  any 
of  the  disabilities  aforesaid,  or  the  proprietor  being  out  of  the 
State,  then  such  land  may  be  valued,  condemned,  and  paid  for,  as 
aforesaid,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid ;  and  the  said  company  shall, 
upon  payment  of  the  valuation  of  the  said  land,  be  seized  thereof 
in  fee  simple  as  aforesaid.  And  whereas,  some  of  the  places 
through  which  it  may  be  necessary  to  conduct  the  said  canals  may 
be  convenient  for  erecting  mills,  forges,  and  other  water-works,  and 
the  persons  possessors  of  such  situations  may  design  to  improve 
the  same,  and  it  is  the  intention  of  this  act  not  to  interfere  with 
private  property,  but  for  the  purpose  of  improving  and  perfecting 
the  said  navigation. 

That  the  Water  or  any  part  thereof  conveyed  through  any  canal 
or  cut  made  by  the  said  company,  shall  not  be  used  for  any  purpose 
but  navigation,  unless  the  consent  of  the  proprietors  of  the  land 
through  which  the  same  shall  be  led,  be  first  had;  and  the  said 
President  and  Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  are  hereby  em- 
powered and  directed,  if  it  can  be  conveniently  done  to  answer 
both  the  purposes  of  navigation  and  water-works  aforesaid,  to 
enter  into  reasonable  agreements  with  the  proprietors  of  such 
situation,  concerning  the  just  proportion  of  the  expenses  of  making 
large  canals  or  cuts  capable  of  carrying  such  quantities  of  water  as 
may  be  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  navigation,  and  also  for  any 
such  water-works  as  aforesaid. 

That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  every  of  the  said  proprietors 
to  transfer  his  share  or  shares,  by  deed,  executed  before  two 
witnesses,  and  registered,  after  proof  of  the  execution  thereof,  in 
the  said  company's  books,  and  not  otherwise,  except  by  devise, 
which  devise  shall  also  be  exhibited  to  the  President  and  Directors 
and  registered  in  the  company's  books  before  the  devise  or  devises 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  59 

shall  be  entitled  to  draw  any  part  of  the  profits  from  the  said  tolls  : 
Provided,  that  no  transfer  whatsoever  shall  be  made,  except  for 
one  or  more  whole  share  or  shares,  and  not  for  part  of  such  shares, 
and  that  no  share  shall  at  any  time  be  sold,  conveyed,  transferred, 
or  held,  in  trust,  for  the  use  and  benefit,  or  in  the  name  of  another, 
whereby  the  said  President  and  Directors  or  proprietors  of  the  said 
company,  or  any  of  them,  shall  or  may  be  challenged,  or  made  to 
answer,  concerning  any  such  trust,  but  that  every  such  person 
appearing  as  aforesaid  to  be  proprietor  shall,  as  to  the  others  of 
the  said  company,  be  to  every  intent  taken  absolutely  as  such,  but 
as  between  any  trustee  and  the  person  for  whose  benefit  any  trust 
shall  be  created,  the  common  remedy  may  be  pursued.  And 
whereas  it  hath  been  represented  to  the  General  Assembly  that 
sundry  persons  are  willing  and  desirous,  on  account  of  the  great 
public  advantages  and  improvement  their  estates  may  receive 
thereby,  to  promote  and  contribute  towards  so  useful  an  under- 
taking and  to  subscribe  sums  of  money  to  be  paid  on  condition 
the  said  works  'are  really  completed  and  carried  into  execution, 
but  do  not  care  to  run  any  risk,  or  desire  to  have  any  property 
therein : 

That  the  said  President  and  Directors  shall  be,  and  are  hereby 
empowered  to  receive  and  take  in  subscriptions,  upon  the  said 
condition  and  upon  the  said  works  being  completed  and  carried  into 
execution  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act ; 
that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  President  and  Directors, 
or  a  majority  of  them,  in  case  of  refusal  or  neglect  of  payment,  in 
the  name  of  the  company  as  aforesaid  to  sue  for  and  recover  of  the 
said  subscribers,  their  heirs,  executors  or  administrators,  the  sums 
by  them  respectively  subscribed,  by  action  of  debt,  or  upon  the 
case,  in  any  court  of  record  within  the  State. 

That  if  the  said  capital,  and  other  aids  already  granted  by  this 
act,  shall  prove  insufficient,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said 
company,  from  time  to  time,  to  increase  the  said  capital  by  the 
addition  of  as  many  more  whole  shares  as  shall  be  judged  necessary 


60  WASHINGTON: 

by  the  said  proprietors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  holding  at  least 
three  hundred  shares,  present  at  any  general  meeting  of  the  said 
company.  And  the  said  President  and  Directors,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  are  hereby  empowered  and  required,  after  giving  at  least  one 
month's  notice  thereof  in  the  Maryland  and  Virginia  Gazettes,  to 
open  books  at  the  before-mentioned  places  for  receiving  and  enter- 
ing such  additional  subscriptions,  in  which  the  proprietors  of  the 
said  company  for  the  time  being,  shall  and  are  hereby  declared  to 
have  the  preference  of  all  others  for  the  first  thirty  days,  after  the 
said  books  shall  be  opened  as  aforesaid,  of  taking  and  subscribing 
for  so  many  whole  shares  as  any  of  them  shall  choose.  And  the 
said  President  and  Directors  are  hereby  required  to  observe  in  all 
other  respects  the  same  rules  therein,  as  are  by  this  act  prescribed, 
for  receiving  and  adjusting  first  the  subscriptions,  and  in  like  manner 
to  return,  under  the  hands  of  any  three  or  more  of  them,  an  exact 
list  of  such  additional  subscribers,  with  the  sums  by  them  respect- 
ively subscribed,  into  the  general  courts  aforesaid,  to  be  there 
recorded,  and  all  proprietors  of  such  additional  sums  shall,  and  are 
hereby  declared  to  be,  from  thenceforward,  incorporated  into  the 
said  company. 

That  the  tolls  hereinbefore  allowed,  to  be  demanded  and 
received  at  the  nearest  convenient  place  below  the  mouth  of  the 
South  Branch  are  granted,  and  shall  be  paid  on  condition  only, 
that  the  Potomac  Company  shall  make  the  river  well  capable  of 
being  navigated  in  dry  seasons,  by  vessels  drawing  one  foot  water, 
from  the  place  on  the  North  Branch  at  which  a  road  shall  set  off 
to  the  Cheat  River,  agreeably  to  the  determination  of  the  Assem- 
blies of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  to  and  through  the  place  which 
may  be  fixed  on,  below  the  mouth  of  the  South  Branch,  for  receipt 
of  the  tolls  aforesaid ;  but  if  the  said  river  is  only  navigable  as 
aforesaid  from  Fort  Cumberland,  to  and  through  the  said  place 
below  the  mouth  of  the  South  Branch,  then  only  two-thirds  of  the 
said  tolls  shall  be  there  received.  That  the  tolls  hereinbefore 
allowed,  to  be  demanded  and  received  at  or  near  Payne's  Falls  are 


•4 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  61 

granted  and  shall  be  payable  on  condition  only,  that  the  said 
Potomac  Company  shall  make  the  river  well  capable  of  being  navi- 
gated in  dry  seasons,  by  vessels  drawing  one  foot  water,  from  the 
place  of  collection,  near  the  mouth  of  the  South  Branch  to  and 
through  Payne's  Falls  as  aforesaid.  That  the  tolls  hereinbefore 

allowed  to   be  demanded   and   received  at   the  Great  Falls,  are 

** 
granted,  and   shall   be  payable  on  condition   only  that  the  said 

Potomac  Company  shall  make  the  river  well  capable  of  being 
navigated  in  dry  seasons,  from  Payne's  Falls  to  the  Great  Falls,  by 
vessels  drawing  one  foot  water,  and  from  the  Great  Falls  to  tide- 
water, and  shall,  at  or  near  the  Great  Falls,  make  a  cut  or  canal,  \ 
twenty-five  feet  wide,  and  four  feet  deep,  with  sufficient  locks,  if 
necessary,  each  of  eighty  feet  in  length,  sixteen  feet  in  breadth, 
and  capable  of  conveying  vessels  or  rafts  drawing  four  feet  water 
at  the  least,  and  shall  make,  at  or  near  the  Little  Falls,  such 
canal  and  locks,  if  necessary,  as  will  be  sufficient  and  proper  to  let 
vessels  and  rafts  aforesaid  into  tide-water,  or  render  the  said  river 
navigable  in  the  natural  course.  /  ^ 

And  it  is  hereby  provided,  that  in  case  the  said  company  shall 
not  begin  the  said  work  within  one  year  after  the  company  shall 
be  formed,  or  if  the  navigation  shall  not  be  made  and  improved 
between  the  Great  Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland,  in  the  manner 
hereinbefore  mentioned  within  three  years  after  the  said  company 
shall  be  formed,  that  then  the  said  company  shall  not  be  entitled 
to  any  benefit,  privilege  or  advantage  under  this  act.  And  in  case 
the  said  company  shall  not  complete  the  navigation  through  and 
from  the  Great  Falls,  to  tide-water  as  aforesaid,  within  ten  years 
after  the  said  company  shall  be  formed,  then  shall  all  interest  of 
the  said  company  and  all  preference  in  their  favor,  as  to  the  navi- 
gation and  tolls,  at,  through,  and  from,  the  Great  Falls  to  tide- 
water, be  forfeited,  and  cease. 

That  all  commodities  of  the  produce  of  either  of  the  said  States,  or 
of  the  western  country,  which  may  be  carried  or  transported  through 
the  said  locks,  canals,  and  river,  may  be  landed,  sold,  or  otherwise 


62  WASHINGTON: 

disposed  of,  free  from  any  other  duties,  impositions,  regulations,  or 
restrictions  of  any  kind,  than  the  like  commodities  of  the  produce 
of  the  State  in  which  the  same  may  happen  to  be  so  landed,  sold, 
shipped,  or  disposed  of. 

That  the  Treasurer  of  this  commonwealth  shall  be  authorized 
and  directed  to  subscribe  to  the  amount  of  fifty  shares  in  behalf 
of  the  same,  and  the  money  necessary  in  consequence  of  such  sub- 
scription, shall  be  paid  as  the  same  shall  be  required.  And  the 
Treasurer  for  the  time  being  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  according 
to  such  shares,  in  person  or  by  proxy,  appointed  by  him,  and  shall 
receive  the  proportion  of  the  tolls  aforesaid,  which  shall  from  time 
to  time  become  due  to  this  State  for  the  shares  aforesaid. 

That  so  much  of  every  act  and  acts  within  the  purview  of  this 
act,  shall  be,  and  the  same  is,  hereby  repealed. 

AN  ACT  FOR  VESTING  IN  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  ESQ.,  A  CERTAIN 
INTEREST  IN  THE  COMPANIES  ESTABLISHED  FOR  OPENING  AND 
EXTENDING  THE  NAVIGATION  OF  THE  POTOMAC  AND  JAMES 

RIVERS. 

Passed  October,  1784. 

Whereas,  it  is  the  desire  of  the  representatives  of  this  common- 
wealth (Va.)  to  embrace  every  suitable  occasion  of  testifying  their 
sense  of  the  unexampled  merits  of  George  Washington,  Esq., 
towards  his  country,  and  it  is  their  wish,  in  particular,  that  those 
great  works  for  its  improvement,  which,  both  as  springing  from  the 
liberty  which  he  has  been  so  instrumental  in  establishing,  and  as 
encouraged  by  his  patronage,  will  be  durable  monuments  of  his 
glory,  may  be  made  monuments  also  of  the  gratitude  of  his 
country. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  that  the  Treasurer  be 
directed,  in  addition  to  the  subscriptions  he  is  hereby  authorized  to 
make,  to  the  respective  undertakings  for  opening  the  navigation  of 
Potomac  and  James  Rivers,  to  subscribe  to  the  amount  of  fifty 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  63 

shares  to  the  former,  and  a  hundred  shares  to  the  latter,  to  be 
paid  in  like  manner  with  the  subscriptions  above  mentioned  ;  and 
that  the  shares  so  subscribed  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  vested 
in  George  Washington,  Esquire,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  in 
as  effectual  a  manner  as  if  the  subscriptions  had  been  made  by 
himself  or  by  his  attorney. 


GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S  REPLY  TO  THE  LETTER  or  THE  GOVERNOR 
OF  VIRGINIA,  TRANSMITTING  A  COPY  OF  THE  FOREGOING  ACT  OF 
THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  excellency  having  been  pleased  to  transmit  to 
me  a  copy  of  the  act  appropriating  to  my  benefit  certain  shares  in 
the  companies  for  opening  the  navigation  of  James  and  Potomac 
Rivers,  I  take  the  liberty  of  returning  to  the  General  Assembly, 
through  your  hands,  the  profound  and  grateful  acknowledgments 
inspired  by  so  signal  a  mark  of  their  beneficent  intentions  towards 
me.  I  beg  you,  sir,  to  assure  them  that  I  am  filled  on  this  occa- 
sion with  every  sentiment  which  can  flow  from  a  heart  warm  with 
love  for  my  country ;  sensible  to  every  token  of  its  approbation 
and  affection,  and  solicitous  to  testify,  in  every  instance,  a  respect- 
ful submission  to  its  wishes.  With  these  sentiments  in  my  bosom, 
I  need  not  dwell  on  the  anxiety  I  feel  in  being  obliged,  in  this 
instance,  to  decline  a  favor  which  is  rendered  no  less  flattering  by 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  conveyed,  than  it  is  affectionate  in  itself. 
In  explaining  this  obligation,  I  pass  over  a  comparison  of  my 
endeavors  in  the  public  service  with  the  many  honorable  testimonies 
of  approbation  which  have  already  so  far  overrated  and  overpaid 
them  ;  reciting  one  consideration  only,  which  supersedes  the  neces- 
sity of  recurring  to  every  other.  When  I  was  first  called  to  the 
station  with  which  I  was  honored  during  the  late  conflict  for  our 
liberties,  to  the  diffidence  which  I  had  so  many  reasons  to  feel  in 
accepting  it,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  join  a  former  resolution 


64  WASHINGTON: 

• 

to  shut  my  hand  against  every  pecuniary  recompense  ;  to  this  reso- 
lution I  have  invariably  adhered  ;  from  this  resolution  (if  I  had 
the  inclination)  I  do  not  consider  myself  at  liberty  to  depart. 
Whilst  I  repeat,  therefore,  my  fervent  acknowledgments  to  the 
legislature  for  their  very  kind  sentiments  and  intentions  in  my 
favor,  and  at  the  same  time  beg  them  to  be  persuaded,  that  a  re- 
membrance of  this  singular  proof  of  their  goodness  towards  me, 
will  never  cease  to  cherish  returns  of  the  warmest  affection  and 
gratitude,  I  must  pray  that  their  act,  so  far  as  it  has  for  its  object 
my  personal  emolument,  may  not  have  its  effect.  But  if  it  should 
please  the  General  Assembly  to  permit  me  to  turn  the  destination 
of  the  fund  vested  in  me,  from  my  private  emolument  to  objects  of 
a  public  nature,  it  will  be  my  study,  in  selecting  these,  to  prove 
the  sincerity  of  my  gratitude  for  the  honor  conferred  on  me,  by 
preferring  such  as  may  appear  most  subservient  to  the  enlightened 
and  patriotic  views  of  the  legislature. 


In  accordance  with  the  wishes  so  patriotically  pre- 
sented by  the  reply  of  General  Washington  to  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  the  act  was  repealed  during  the 
same  session;  and  it  was  further  enacted  that  the 
said  shares,  with  the  tolls  and  profits  hereafter  accru- 
ing therefrom,  should  stand  appropriated  to  such 
objects  of  a  public  nature,  in  such  manner,  and  under 
such  distributions  as  General  Washington,  by  deed 
during  his  life,  or  by  his  last  will  and  testament, 
should  direct  and  appoint. 

A  short  time  after  the  expiration  of  the  period 
which  was  specified  for  receiving  subscriptions  to  the 
capital  stock,  a  general  meeting  was  called  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  shares  that  were  talven,  and  if  sufficient, 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  65 

formally  to  organize  the  company  by  the  election  of 
officers. 

A  sufficient  number  of  shares  having  been  sub- 
scribed, a  meeting  was  held  in  pursuance  to  previous 
public  notice  published  in  some  of  the  Maryland  and 
Virginia  Gazettes,  at  Alexandria,  on  the  17th  day  of 
May,  1785. 

An  unusual  degree  of  public  feeling  was  already 
manifested  in  the  proposed  management  of  .the  affairs 
of  the  company.  It  was  an  enterprise  of  a  novel 
character,  and  prompted  more  by  the  impulse  of 
patriotic  considerations,  than  by  the  influence  of  an- 
ticipated pecuniary  advantages  to  the  subscribers ;  it 
had  enlisted  in  its  success  some  of  the  most  prominent 
and  distinguished  men  of  the  two  sister  States.  The 
meeting  was  regarded  with  no  ordinary  concern. 
Public  spirited  individuals  from  several  parts  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland  proceeded  to  Alexandria  to 

•  ^»  9^  £  0 

witness    its    proceedings.       The    city    presented    a 

. 

spectacle  which  at  that  early  day  was  seldom  wit- 
nessed. The  general  belief  that  the  immortal  Wash- 
ington, the  man  who  had  borne  his  country  in 
triumph  through  the  storms  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  achieved  its  national  independence,  would 
accept  the  office  of  President  of  the  company,  was  of 
itself  calculated  to  impart  an  extraordinary  interest 
to  the  occasion.  When  the  hour  for  opening  the 
meeting  had  arrived,  a  large  number  of  citizens  were 
in  attendance.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by 


66  WASHINGTON: 

one  of  the  proprietors,  and  was  subsequently  organized 
by  electing  Daniel  Carrol,  Esquire,  Chairman,  and 
Charles  Lee,  Esquire,  Clerk. 

Upon  the  presentation  of  the  subscription  books,  it 
was  ascertained  that  the  shares  subscribed  were — 

V 

VIRGINIA. 

In  the  Richmond  Book 100     Shares. 

Alexandria,  do 135         do 

Winchester,  do 31        do 

MARYLAND. 

.*•.'"*. 

Annapolis,      do 73        do 

Georgetown,  do 42        do 

Frederick,      do 22        do 

amounting  to  four  hundred  and  three  shares,  making 
a  capital  of  forty  thousand  three  hundred  pounds 
sterling  money. 

On  motion,  it  was  then  resolved,  That  the  sub- 
scribers present  in  person  and  by  proxy,  proceed  to 
the  choice  of  President  and  Directors,  who  shall 
continue  in  office  until  the  first  Monday  in  the  month 
of  August  1786,  and  that  at  every  general  meeting, 
in  taking  the  votes  of  the  proprietors,  each  proprietor 
shall  give  in  his  vote  or  votes  at  the  Clerk's  table,  in 
writing,  and  where  the  vote  or  votes  shall  be  given 
by  proxy,  that  the  name  of  each  constituent  shall  also 
be  inserted. 

<k  f 

The  chairman  then  suggested  to  the  meeting  the 
importance  of  an  examination  of  the  deputations  and 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  67 

the  proxies  before  the  election,  and  appointed  Charles 
Sims  and  James  Keith  as  the  examining  committee. 
This  committee  having  discharged  the  duties  of  their 
appointment,  reported  that  the  deputations  from 
Thomas  Blackburn  to  William  Brown,  from  Thomas 
Johnson  to  Abraham  Farr,  and  from  John  Lyon  to 
Abraham  Farr,  were  illegal  and  insufficient,  and 
executed  only  before  one  witness,  and  could  not  be 
admitted  to  vote  at  this  election.  The  report  was 
adopted. 

The  proprietors  present  in  person  and  those  who 
were  absent,  but  legally  represented  by  proxies,  then 
proceeded  to  the  choice  of  President  and  four 
Directors,  and  on  examining  and  counting  the  votes, 
a  majority  was  in  favor  of  his  Excellency  George 
Washington  to  be  President,  and  Thomas  Johnston, 
Thomas  Sim  Lee,  John  Fitzgerald  and  George  Gilpin, 
Esquires,  to  be  Directors,  and  thereupon  the  chair- 
man declared  his  excellency  George  Washington 
President,  and  Thomas  Johnston,  Thomas  Sim  Lee, 
John  Fitzgerald  and  George  Gilpin,  Esquires, 
Directors  of  the  Potomac  Company. 

This  announcement  of  the  result  of  the  election 
was  received  by  the  meeting  with  unbounded  joy  and 
satisfaction. 

The  papers,  forms,  and  proxies  in  the  hands  of  the 
several  deputations,  and  the  subscription  books,  as  also 
the  minutes  of  the  meeting,  were  then  placed  in  charge 
of  the  President  and  Directors,  and,  after  designating 


68  WASHINGTON: 

the  day  and  place  for  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board, 
the  meeting  adjourned.  • 

The  Board,  agreeably  to  appointment,  met  in  Alex- 
andria on  Monday  the  30th  day  of  May,  1785,  to  be 
duly  qualified. 

Present:  Gen.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

GEORGE  GILPIN,  JOHN  FITZGERALD,  THOMAS  SIM  LEE, 
and  THOMAS  JOHNSTON,  Directors. 

George  Gilpin  administered  the  oath  of  office  pre- 
scribed by  the  General  Assemblies  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  .  to  George  Washington,  John  Fitzgerald, 
Thomas  Sim  Lee,  and  Thomas  Johnston;  and  John 
Fitzgerald  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  George 
Gilpin. 

The  Board  having  been  qualified,  proceeded  to  the 
selection  of  individuals  for  treasurer  and  clerk,  and 
appointed  William  Hartshorne,  of  Alexandria,  trea- 
surer, and  John  Potts,  Jun.,  of  the  same  place,  clerk. 
The  former  allowed  three  per  cent,  upon  the  disburse- 
ments as  a  compensation  for  his  services,  and  to  enter 
into  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  ten  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  with  two  good  and  sufficient  securities,  to  be 
approved  by  the  Board.  The  latter  to  be  paid  twenty 
one  shillings  sterling  for  each  day  he  shall  attend  the 
Board,  besides  his  reasonable  expenses  when  he 
occasionally  attends  the  sittings  or  sessions  of  the 
Board  out  of  Alexandria,  and  thereby  incurs  an  extra- 
ordinary expense. 

The  company,  now  fully  organized,  entered  upon 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  69 

the  commencement  of  its  active  duties  with  flattering 
prospects  of  success.  With  the  illustrious  Washing- 
ton at  its  head,  and  the  encouragement  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  among 
its  subscribers,  the  enterprise  was  one  of  extreme 
interest  both  to  the  company  and  the  public. 

When  the  members  of  the  Board  were  assembled — 
the  President  offered  his  congratulations  upon  the 
happy  condition  which  brought  them  together,  and  in 
brief  and  eloquent  terms  animated  their  zeal,  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  enterprise  by  his  own  unbounded 
patriotism  and  public  spirit. 

Many  suggestions  were  submitted  and  discussed 
relative  to  the  most  eligible  plan  for  practical  opera- 
tions; and  it  was  at  length  agreed:  to  divide  the  line 
of  the  river  to  be  improved  into  two  sections ;  the  first 
or  lower  section  to  extend  from  tide  water  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  Shenandoah  Falls — and  the  upper 
section  include  the  river  between  the  upper  part  of 
the  Shenandoah  Falls,  and  the  highest  point  prac- 
ticable upon  the  North  Branch,  and  to  which  the 
improvement  could  be  extended  and  made  navigable. 

To  each  of  these  sections  was  assigned  a  general 
director,  skilled  in  the  character  of  the  work  to  be 
performed,  one  suitable  assistant,  three  overseers,  and 
fifty  men. 

To  obtain  the  services  of  the  most  competent  and 
skilful  men  to  conduct  the  opening  and  improving 
the  navigation,  the  Board  directed  advertisements  to 


70  WASHINGTON: 

be  inserted  in  the  Alexandria,  Baltimore,  and  one  or 
more  of  the  Philadelphia  papers,  giving  notice  that  it 
would  meet  at  Alexandria  on  the  first  day  of  July 
next  "  to  agree  with  two  persons  who  best  understood 
the  character  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and  its  manage- 
ment, to  the  greatest  advantage." 

On  account  of  the  toilsome  character  of  the  work, 
the  ordinary  wages  of  that  day  were  not  sufficient 
inducements  to  the  laboring  classes  to  enter  into  the 
service  of  the  company.  A  more  liberal  scale  of 
allowance  was  accordingly  adopted;  and  in  addition 
to  the  advance  upon  the  wages,  good  and  substantial 
provisions  were  supplied  and  a  reasonable  quantity  of 
spirits.  As  a  further  encouragement  to  the  hands,  it 
was  proposed  to  add  yet  more  to  the  wages  of  those 
who  were  most  dexterous  and  skilful  in  boring  and 
blowing  rocks,  and  the  conductor  was  directed  to  be 
at  Seneca  on  the  1st  and  at  Shenandoah  on  the  14th 
of  July,  to  examine  such  as  would  offer  for  this  service. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Clerk  was  directed  to  write  a 
letter  to  Capt.  Abraham  Sheppard,  of  Sheppardstown, 
requesting  him  to  contract  for  the  building  of  two 
very  strong  boats  for  the  use  of  the  company,  each  to 
be  thirty  five  feet  long,  eight  feet  wide  or  upwards, 
and  not  less  than  twenty  inches  deep,  in  the  common 
manner  of  the  flats  used  at  the  ferries  on  the  Potomac 
above  tide-water. 

A  similar  letter  was  written  to  Col.  James 
Clapham,  in  whose  judgment  and  experience  in  the 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  71 

construction  of  boats,  the  President  and  Directors 
entertained  the  greatest  confidence. 

The  character  of  the  river  above  Payne's  Falls  was 
at  this  time  little  known.  From  the  junction  of  the 
Shenandoah  to  the  sources  of  the  North  Branch  was 
an  almost  uninterrupted  wilderness,  and  few  persons 
had  penetrated  the  gorges  and  passes  of  the  numerous 
mountain  ranges  through  which  it  had  forced  its  way. 
But  one  individual  connected  with  the  enterprise  of 
the  Potomac  Company,  had  perhaps  ever  viewed  the 
bold  and  picturesque  scenery  which  bordered  upon 
the  stream,  or  the  rocks  and  falls  that  broke  its 
surface.  To  have  a  correct  view  of  the  difficulties 
that  would  be  encountered  in  the  progress  of  the 
improvement  of  its  navigation,  it  was  important  that 
the  members  of  the  Board  should  possess  a  personal 
knowledge  of  the  part  of  the  river  to  be  improved, 
and  it  was  accordingly  determined  to  proceed  to  an 
examination,  immediately  after  the  general  meeting 
in  August  next. 

The  selection  of  persons  to  fill  the  subordinate 
stations  in  the  company,  was  a  matter  of  much  solici- 
tude. After  repeated  notifications  through  the 
columns  of  the  public  press  in  Philadelphia,  Virginia, 
and  Maryland,  inviting  the  attention  of  suitable 
individuals  to  the  subject,  and  the  personal  efforts  of 
many  of  the  subscribers,  superadded  to  the  very 
liberal  allowances  that  were  offered,  having  all  failed 
of  success,  Col.  Gilpin,  a  member  of  the  Board,  was 


72  WASHINGTON: 

specially  delegated  with  full  power  and  authority  to 
act  on  this  subject  in  behalf  of  the  company. 

Believing  that  a  personal  interview  with  applicants 
would  be  most  likely  attended  with  success,  he  gave 
public  notice  that  he  would  be  at  Seneca  and  Shenan- 
doah  Falls  on  the  14th  of  July  ensuing,  to  meet  such 
persons  as  would  offer  for  the  stations  that  were 
specified,  and  if,  upon  proper  examination  of  their 
credentials,  and  a  satisfactory  conviction  of  thejir 
capacity  and  integrity,  were  adjudged  worthy  of  the 
appointment,  he  would  at  once,  under  the  authority 
vested  in  him,  confer  it  upon  them,  and  fix  the  time 
when  the  work  should  commence. 

The  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held, 
agreeably  to  previous  notice,  in  Georgetown,  on  the 
1st  day  of  August,  1785. 

Present:  Gen.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

THOMAS  S.  LEE,  JOHN  FITZGERALD,  THOMAS  JOHN- 
STON, GEORGE  GILPIN,  Directors. 

The  first  business  in  order  was  the  examination  of 
sundry  accounts  amounting  to  £182  Is.  4J.,  which, 
having  been  found  correct,  the  Treasurer  was  directed 
to  pay. 

It  was  also  ordered  that  the  Treasurer  forthwith 
advance  to  Mr.  James  Rumsey,  the  principal  manager, 
the  sum  of  fifty  pounds,  Virginia  currency,  as  a 
contingent  fund,  and  to  be  expended  in  small  sums 
for  the  use  of  the  company,  and  at  stated  periods 
to  render  an  account  accompanied  by  the  vouchers. 


•** 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  73 

The  subject  which  mainly  occupied  the  attention 
of  the  Board  at  this  meeting,  was  the  accountability 
of  the  subordinate  officers  relative  to  the  disburse- 
ments of  money.  The  arrangement  that  had  been 
made  for  commencing  the  work,  required  the  adop- 
tion of  a  rigid  system,  and  from  which  no  departure 
could  be  admitted  under  any  circumstances  upon  the 
mere  option  of  an  assistant  or  overseer — nor  by  the 
authority  of  the  principal  manager,  independent  of  the 
subsequent  action  of  the  Board.  The  plan  was  simple 
and  efficient.  Each  overseer  was  directed  to  keep  a 
book  in  which  the  name  of  every  person  employed 
was  enrolled,  with  columns  properly  ruled  for  an  exact 
account  of  the  days  on  which  each  hand  was  employed, 
and  also  of  the  days  when  absent,  and  every  fortnight 
he  was  required  to  render  an  account  to  the  assistant 
manager,  who,  if  he  approved  the  same,  to  certify 
thereto,  and  present  it  to  the  principal  manager,  and 
if  he  also  approved  of  the  account,  it  should  be  au- 
thority to  the  Treasurer  to  furnish  such  sum  of  money 
as  would  be  sufficient  to  discharge  the  account. 

After  the  transaction  of  the  most  important  business 
of  the  meeting,  and  it  had  adjourned,  the  President 
and  members  of  the  Board  proceeded  to  the  Shenan- 
doah  Falls  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  examination 
that  would  enable  them  to  decide  upon  the  kind  of 
improvement  to  overcome  the  difficulties  the  Falls 
presented  in  the  navigation  of  the  river.  Viewing  the 
still  water  above  and  below,  and  the  character  of  the 


74  WASHINGTON: 

obstructions  in  the  Falls,  the  members  were  unanim- 
ously of  the  opinion  that  no  lock  would  be  required, 
and  that  nothing  more  was  necessary  than  the  removal 
of  the  rocks  that  were  irregularly  scattered  over  the 
Falls ;  and  a  party  was  organized  to  clear  and  improve 
the  navigation  from  Payne's  upwards,  through  the 
Shenandoah  Falls,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Rumsey,  the  principal  director,  whom  Col.  Gilpin 
had  just  appointed. 

The  following  letter  of  instructions  was  written  to 
him  by  the  President : — 


SHENANDOAH  FALLS,  3d  day  of  August,  1785. 

Sm  :  As  you  have  attended  the  President  and  Directors  in  their 
view  and  examination  of  the  river,  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
Seneca  Falls  to  the  Great  Falls,  and  from  the  flat  water  above  to 
the  flat  water  below  the  Shenandoah  Falls,  you  are  possessed  not 
only  of  their  opinion  of  the  course  in  general  to  be  improved,  and 
their  idea  of  effecting  the  work,  but  also  of  their  sentiments  on 
many  particular  spots.  The  President  and  Directors  have  no 
doubt,  could  they  personally  attend  the  work  in  its  progress,  and 
see  the  river  at  those  places  in  its  different  situations,  they  might 
in  many  instances  depart  from  their  present  opinions.  The  nature 
of  the  work  and  our  situations  make  it  therefore  necessary  to  leave 
it  to  your  discretion  to  vary  from  what  you  may  have  conceived 
our  opinion  to  be  as  to  the  tract  or  manner  of  executing  the  work, 
and  we  do  it  the  more  cheerfully,  as  you  seem  to  be  equally  im- 
pressed as  ourselves  with  the  importance  of  a  straight  navigation, 
and  the  advantages  of  avoiding,  as  far  as  well  may  be,  to  cross 
currents.  The  opportunity  you  will  have  to  watch  the  water  at 
different  heights,  and  your  industry  in  examining  more  minutely 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  75 

the  different  obstructions,  will  enable  you  to  exercise  the  dis- 
cretionary power  left  with  you,  to  your  own  credit  and  our  satis- 
faction. 

You  are  already  apprised  of  our  change  of  resolution  as  to  the 
plan  of  working  the  upper  party,  and  the  reasons  which  induced 
that  change,  and  as  effecting  the  navigation  through  the  Shenan- 
doah  and  Seneca  Falls,  will  be  immediately  advantageous  to  a 
great  extent  of  country,  you  are  not  to  consider  yourself  restricted 
to  the  number  of  fifty  hands  for  each  party,  but  you  are  to  employ 
as  many  as  you  have  an  opportunity  to  engage,  and  you  can  work 
to  advantage,  so  that  the  work  may  be  expedited  ;  but  you  must 
immediately,  on  exceeding  one  hundred  in  the  whole,  give  informa- 
tion to  the  President,  lest  any  disappointment  should  happen  in 
the  ready  payment  of  the  company's  debts,  which  by  all  means  is 
to  be  avoided. 

For  the  President  and  Directors, 

G.  WASHINGTON,  P. 
• 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter  of  instructions  from 
General  Washington,  Mr.  Rumsey  immediately  pre- 
pared himself  to  carry  its  purposes  into  eifect,  and 
although  much  was  left  to  his  discretion,  he  found 
few  occasions  to  depart  from  the  line  marked  out  for 
him  to  pursue.  It  required  a  personal-  knowledge  of 
the  river  for  a  succession  of  years,  and  at  its  different 
stages  of  water,  to  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  best 
course  for  the  contemplated  improvement.  Of  this 
the  Board  were  fully  satisfied,  and  the  discretionary 
power  which  was  given  to  Mr.  Rumsey  on  account 
of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  river  and  its  condi- 
tion from  the  lowest  stages  of  water  to  the  highest 


76  WASHINGTON: 

freshets,  and  his  active  and  energetic  character,  the 
members  felt  every  assurance  that  the  responsibility 
and  trust  they  devolved  upon  him  could  npt  be  com- 
mitted to  better  hands. 

The  first  object  to  which  his  attention  was  directed, 
was  to  trace  out  the  line  or  channel  of  the  river  to  be 
cleared  and  improved,  and  which  he  then  divided 
into  parts,  to  each  of  which  he  assigned  a  specified 
number  of  hands,  under  the  charge  of  an  overseer. 

The  hands  were  accordingly  distributed  upon  the 
line,  and  were  soon  at  work.  The  condition  of  the 
water  was  favorable  for  prosecuting  the  improvement 
with  energy  and  zeal,  and  the  organization  seemed  to 
be  well  calculated  for  active  operations. 

Notwithstanding  the  favorable  circumstances  un- 
der which  the  company  was  organized,  the 'liberal 
allowance  to  the  workmen  for  their  services,  and  the 
disposition  of  the  Board  and  of  the  principal  conductor 
to  abate  the  severity  of  the  labor  by  granting  every 
reasonable  indulgence,  one  month  had  scarcely 
elapsed  before  a  turbulent  and  insubordinate  spirit 
was  manifested  among  the  hands,  and  to  a  degree  as 
to  require  immediate  and  signal  correction.  Irregu- 
larity, misconduct,  and  insolent  behavior  placed  the 
authority  of  the  conductor  and  his  subordinates  at 
defiance.  The  work  that  was  directed  to  be  done 
was  either  entirely  omitted  or  but  partially  performed, 
and  it  was  evident  to  the  conductor  that  not  much 
progress  could  be  made  in  improving  the  navigation, 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  77 

unless  at  least  one-half  of  the  laborers  then  on  the 
line  were  discharged  and  tile  number  replaced  by 
others  more  orderly  and  obedient.  Mr.  Rumsey  was 
not  long  in  deciding  upon  the  course  to  be  pursued. 
He  made  a  report  of  all  the  facts  relative  to  the 
insubordination  of  the  workmen  to  General  Wash- 
ington in  a  written  communication,  and  expressed  his 
hope  that  it  would  receive  the  earliest  attention. 
Upon  the  receipt  of  this  communication,  a  meeting 
of  the  Board  was  called  at  Alexandria  on  the  9th  of 
September,  1785,  and  after  a  full  exposition  of  the 
difficulties  among  the  hands,  it  was  unanimously 
declared,  as  the  opinion  (of  the  Board)  "  that  it  would 
facilitate  the  work  to  purchase  sixty  servants  for  the 
use  of  the  company ;"  and  the  Secretary  was  directed 
to  open  a  correspondence  with  some  person'  in 
Baltimore  and  in  Philadelphia  to  ascertain  the  best 
terms  upon  which  they  could  be  procured. 

As  soon  as  the  Secretary  had  received  replies  to 
his  letters,  he  advised  the  President  of  the  company, 
who  thereupon  called  a  meeting  of  the  Board  at 
Alexandria,  Sept.  26th,  1785. 

Present:  Gen.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

GEO.  GILPIN,  JOHN  FITZGERALD,  Directors. 

Sundry  accounts  properly  authenticated,  amounting 
to  £182  8s.  36?.,  were  presented  and  passed,  and  the 
Treasurer  was  directed  to  pay  them. 

The  subject  for  which  the  meeting  was  particularly 
called  was  then  introduced  by  the  President,  and  the 


•^  78  WASHINGTON: 

report  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Rumsey,  and  the 
answers  from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  to  the  letters 
from  the  Secretary  were  read ;  and,  after  due  delibera- 
tion and  discussion,  it  was  finally  ordered  that  the 
Secretary  be  directed  to  write  letters  to  Messrs. 
Stewart  &  Plunket,  of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  John 
Maxwell  Nesbit,  of  Philadelphia,  the  gentlemen  to 
whom  the  Secretary  had  previously  made  application, 
"  to  purchase  for  the  use  of  the  company  sixty  servants, 
and  to  request  of  each  of  them,  that  as  soon  as  there 
may  be  an  arrival  at  either  place,  out  of  which  the 
number  can  probably  be  procured,  immediately  to 
send  an  express  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  with 
information  of  it,  that  they  may  avail  themselves  of 
the  first  opportunity  of  getting  them  out,  and  also  to 
prevent  a  purchase  being  made  at  both  places." 

In  the  mean  time,  it  was  important  that  the  enter- 
prise  should  be  prosecuted  with  as  much  energy  and 
assiduity  as  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
company  was  then  placed  would  allow.  The  water 
in  the  river  was  unusually  low,  and  the  obstructions 
to  be  removed  from  the  channel  were  discoverable 
throughout  the  almost  entire  length  to  be  improved. 
It  was  also  a  season  of  extraordinary  health  in  the 
valley  of  the  Potomac,  and  provisions  were  abundant 
and  cheap, 

Influenced  by  these  considerations,  the  Board 
declared  it  as  their  unanimous  opinion  that  Mr. 
Rumsey,  the  conductor,  should  engage  such  of  the 


THE   POTOMAC  COMPANY.  79 

hands  as  deserve  encouragement,  to  continue  in  the 
service  of  the  company  on  the  best  terms  he  could 
obtain  from  them,  and  until  the  further  order  of  the 
Board  ;  and  that  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  President 
and  Directors  be  held  at  Georgetown,  in  the  State  of 
Maryland,  on  Monday  the  seventeenth  day  of  October 
next,  of  which  notice  to  be  given  to  the  Directors,  and 
also  to  Mr.  Rumsey  and  Mr.  Stewart,  the  principal 
and  the  assistant  managers. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  notice  was  accordingly 
transmitted  to  the  several  members  to  attend  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  in  Georgetown  on  the  day  proposed, 
to  take  the .  existing  condition  of  the  affairs  of  the 
company  into  consideration,  and  to  adopt  such 
measures  as  would  more  effectually  secure  the  pro- 
prietors against  the  recurrence  of  the  interruptions 
which  had  several  times  seriously  checked  the  progress 
of  the  improvement  of  the  channel  of  the  Potomac. 

In  consequence  of  the  absence  of  one  of  the  mem- 
bers, the  Board  was  not  organized  until  the  18th  of 
October,  when  it  met  at  the  Great  Falls  of  the 
Potomac  River. 

Present:  Gen.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

JOHN  FITZGERALD,  GEORGE  GILPIN,  THOS.  LEE,  and 
THOS.  JOHNSTON,  Directors. 

The  President  made  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
causes  which  had  urged  him*  to  call  a  special  meeting, 
submitting  to  them  such  considerations  as  he  deemed 
appropriate  to  the  occasion,  and  earnestly  invoked  the 
action  of  the  Board  on  the  subject. 


80  WASHINGTON: 

•',  M 

The  session  continued  during  two  days.  Many 
suggestions  were  made  and  discussed,  opinions  were 
freely  expressed,  and  after  a  frank  and  candid  con- 
sideration of  all  the  facts  presented  by  the  principal 
superintendent,  in  whom  entire  confidence  was 
entertained,  it  was  ordered : — 

* 
f\ 

That  one  hundred  good  and  able  working  negroes  should  be 
hired  for  the  use  of  the  company,  for  each  of  whom  there  should 
be  an  allowance  of  twenty  pounds,  Virginia  currency,  also  clothing, 
and  to  pay  their  levies  and  furnish  them  with  rations,  viz  :  1  Ib. 
salt  pork,  1£  Ib.  salt  beef,  or  1^  Ib.  fresh  beef  or  mutton,  and  a 
sufficiency  of  bread  each  day,  and  also  a  reasonable  quantity  of 
spirits,  when  necessary. 

That  the  negroes  are  to  come  well  clothed,  or  to  be  supplied 
with  what  may  be  deficient,  which  is  to  be  stopped  out  of  the  next 
year's  clothing. 

It  was  also  ordered  : — 

4  *  •• 

That  the  monthly  wages  of  the  men  should  remain  as  heretofore, 
but  without  making  a  deduction  for  the  time  the  weather  would 
not  admit  of  their  working.  % 

The  applications  were  requested  to  be  made  to  Mr. 
William  Hartshorne,  in  Alexandria,  or  to  Mr.  James 
Rumsey,  the  principal  superintendent,  who  were  duly 
authorized  to  enter  into  contracts  for  the  hands : — 

Before  the  adjournment,  the  following  accounts 
were  presented  and  directed  to  be  paid. 

Josias  Clapham     .         .         .         .     t    .     £43     5s.  Qd. 

John  Potts,  Jr 683 

John  Fitzgerald   .         ...         .         .         220 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  81 

It  was  not  long  before  a  sufficient  number  of  hands 
were  engaged,  and  divided  into  three  working 
parties  viz:  at  the  Great  Falls,  at  the  Seneca  Falls, 
and  at  the  Shenandoah  Falls. 

The  improvements  of  the  channel  at  these  important 
points  were  pushed  with  due  energy  and  zeal.  Some 
of  the  largest  rocks  in  the  two  upper  falls  were 
sufficiently  blasted,  and  their  fragments  generally 
removed  from  the  channel  before  a  rise  in  the  river 
compelled  a  suspension  of  the  work.  In  the  early 
part  of  November  the  river  began  to  r;se,  and  soon 
overflowed  its  banks.  Much  rain  had  fallen,  and  the 
mountain  streams  at  and  near  the  heads  of  the  North 
and  South  Branches  of  the  Potomac  became  unusually 
high,  and  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  freshets  in 
the  river  was  the  result. 

Driven  by  the  high  water  the  majority  of  the  hands 
were  compelled  to  abandon  their  work,  and  were 
directed  to  proceed  to  the  Great  Falls,  where  they 
were  to  be  occupied  in  building  huts  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  men  during  the  winter. 

Mr.  Rumsey  was  also  authorized  to  contract  for  the 
building  of  two  boats  for  the  use  of  the  company,  on 
such  construction  as  he  should  think  "most  advan- 
tageous for  forwarding  the  work,  and  as  many  more 
boats  on  the  plan  of  those  formerly  constructed  as  he 
should  deem  indispensably  necessary." 

Many  accounts  remaining  unsettled,  the  President, 
before  the  Board  adjourned,  requested  them  to  be 


82  WASHINGTON: 

rendered  to  the  office  of  the  Treasurer,  in  Alexandria, 
as  soon  as  they  could  be  prepared.  On  the  21st 
November,  1785,  accounts  with  proper  vouchers  were 
brought  before  the  Committee  of  Directors,  passed, 
and  ordered  to  be  paid,  amounting  to  £260  15s.  5d. 

The  rainy  weather  was  of  an  unusually  long  dura- 
tion, and  it  was  not  probable,  from  the  advanced 
period  of  the  season,  that  much  more  work  could  be 
done  in  the  channel  of  the  river  during  the  remaining 

^  * 

part  of  the  fall.  The  general  superintendent  was 
accordingly  instructed  to  concentrate  the  working 
parties  at  the  Great  Falls  where  it  was  contemplated 
to  engage  them  in  excavating  the  prism  of  the  canal 
around  the  falls,  and  in  the  building  of  ordinary 
boats. 

Much  diversity  of  opinion  prevailed  as  to  the  most 
feasible  line  for  the  canal.  The  character  of  the 
ground  generally  was  good,  but  the  particular  locality 
of  the  down  lock  and  its  embouchure  into  the  River 
below  the  falls  required  a  more  particular  examination 
and  survey  of  the  route  than  had  yet  been  given. 
Personal  examinations  were  made  by  the  several 
members  of  the  Board,  and  it  was  finally  directed  that 
an  accurate  draft  of  the  "  track  for  the  proposed  canal 
be  made  with  the  courses  and  distances  and  also  of  the 
"  different  risings  and  fallings  in  the  ground,"  and 
that  it  be  prepared  in  time  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Board  at  the  meeting  to  be  held  at  the  Great  Falls  in 
March  following. 


THE   POTOMAC  COMPANY.  83 

It  was  also  ordered  that  as  soon  as  the  place  for 
taking  out  the  water  from  the  river  should  be 
determined  on,  all  the  hands  not  otherwise  engaged 
to  be  employed  in  opening  that  part  of  the  canal,  and 
to  continue  the  excavation  to  the  level  of  the  bed  of 
the  river. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting,  a  letter 
was  also  read  to  the  Board  from  William  Lyles  &  Co. 
proposing  to  furnish  "what  rum  might  be  necessary 
for  the  use  of  the  hands  employed  by  the  company  on 
the  river."  The  offer  was  liberal,  and  was  accepted  for 
supplying  those  engaged  below  the  Shenandoah  Falls 
at  two  shillings  per  gallon  until  the  further  order  of 
the  Board. 

The  surveys  directed  to  be  made  were  immediately 
commenced — sections  and  cross  sections  were  run,  and 
very  minute  and  accurate  drafts  of  the  ground  were 
prepared,  presenting  at  a  glance  the  elevations  and 
depressions,  the  cutting  and  filling  that  would  be 
required  in  the  adoption  of  either  of  the  two  routes  to 
which  the  attention  and  labor  of  the  surveying  and 
examining  party  was  directed. 

During  the  interval  between  this  meeting  and  the 
time  appointed  for  the  next,  the  attention  of  the 
President  was  much  occupied  in  awakening  the 
public  mind  to  the  importance  of  prosecuting  the  work 
which  had  been  so  generously  undertaken  by  the 
proprietors  of  the  company.  The  original  motive 
which  actuated  the  stockholders  seemed  for  some 


84  WASHINGTON: 

cause  to  have  abated,  and  it  required  the  master  spirit 
of  the  enterprise  to  be  exerted,  to  prevent  at  this 
important  and  critical  juncture,  a  total  abandonment 
of  the  project.  With  the  powerful  influence  of  the 
illustrious  head  of  the  Potomac  Company  the  cloud 
which  for  a  brief  time  hung  over  its  future  prospects 
was  dispelled,  and  new  hopes  cheered  and  animated 
its  affairs.  The  State  of  Maryland  had  failed  to  pay 
the  sums  due  on  the  shares  it  held,  and  a  large  number 
of  individual  stockholders  had  also  neglected  to  meet 
their  instalments.  The  funds  of  the  company  were 
nearly  exhausted.  The  treasury  was  no  longer  able 
to  liquidate  the  claims  of  individuals  against  it,  and  a 
total  prostration  of  its  credit  seemed  inevitable  unless 
soon  relieved.  This  relief  fortunately  was  afforded 
under  the  energetic  action  of  the  President  and  Board 
of  Directors,  who  had  a  meeting  at  the  Great  Falls 
on  the  1st  and  2d  days  of  March,  1786. 

Having  before  them  the  Report  of  Mr.  William 
Hartshorne,  of  Alexandria,  the  Treasurer  of  the 
company,  which  gave  a  full  and  interesting  statement 
of  the  finances,  they  devoted  two  days  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  best  means  to  obtain  funds  to  continue 
the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  river.  To 
fail  of  success  was  an  abandonment  of  the  enterprise, 
and  might  bring  discredit  upon  the  proprietors ;  every 
honorable  effort  was  suggested  and  discussed,  and  it 
was  finally  ordered :  "  That  the  Treasurer  send  an 
express  to  Annapolis  to  make  application  for  payment 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  85 

of  the  sums  due  on  shares  which  have  been  subscribed 
for  by  the  State,  and  also  to  such  others  as  have  not 
been  made  agreeable  to  a  former  order  of  this  Board, 
and  that  he  send  to  such  persons  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Alexandria  as  have  been  delinquents,  and  also  that 
he  write  to  other  defaulters  who  are  at  a  distance,  on 
the  subject." 

It  was  also  ordered  that  the  subscribers  and 
proprietors  of  the  company  pay  into  the  hands  of 
William.  Hartshorne,  the  Treasurer,  ten  pounds 
sterling  on  each  respective  share  on  or  before  the 
fifteenth  day  of  April  next,  and  the  further  sum  of 
ten  pounds  sterling  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of 
June  next. 

These  applications  were  not  disregarded.  Many 
of  the  proprietors,  immediately  after  receiving  the 
notice,  transmitted  the  sums  declared  to  be  due  on  the 
15th  of  April — with  assurances  of  the  payment  of 
the  second  assessment  two  months  thereafter. 

With  this  encouraging  prospect  before  them,  the 
President  and  Board  entered  into  arrangements  to 
extend  the  line  of  operations.  The  number  of  hands 
was  increased,  additional  working  parties  were 
organized,  and  Mr.  James  Smith  was  appointed  an 
assistant  manager  for  one  year,  to  superintend  the 
work  upon  the  same  terms  and  with  the  same 
allowance  granted  to  Mr.  Richardson  Stewart,  the 
first  assistant. 

Before  the  President  and  members  of  the  Board 


86  WASHINGTON: 

left  the  Great  Falls,  they  made  a  very  minute 
personal  examination  of"  the  several  routes  which 
were  marked  out  by  the  surveying  party  to  get  below 
the  Falls,  and  they  determined  to  adopt  that  which 
was  traced  between  the  river  -and  Falls  Island,  as  the 
most  eligible.  A  large  party  was  at  once  employed 
in  the  excavation,  and  the  work  was  carried  on  with 
commendable  energy  and  force. 

It  was  also  determined  to  give  public  notice  that 
proposals  would  be  received  until  the  meeting  of  the 
15th  April  to  furnish  the  men  employed  at  and  below 
the  Shenandoah  with  rations  for  one  year.  •  The 
advertisement  was  first  published  in  the  Alexandria 
papers  on  the  3d  of  March,  1786. 

On  the  15th  day  of  April,  the  President  called  a 
meeting  of  the  Board  at  Alexandria,  to  act  upon  the 
several  proposals  that  were  received  to  supply  the 
rations.  The  terms  offered  were  generally  favorable, 
and  the  contract  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Abel  Westfall, 
at  the  rate  of  one  shilling,  Virginia  currency,  for 
each  ration,  who  immediately  after,  with  his  sureties 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  contract,  John 
Reynolds  and  Patrick  Murray,  executed  the  necessary 
bond. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  subscribers  was  appointed 
for  the  7th  day  of  August,  1786,  for  the  election  of  a 
President  and  Directors  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  to 
that  day  the  meeting  of  the  Board  was  adjourned  to 
make  their  annual  report. 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  87 

ALEXANDRIA,  August  7,  1786. 

The  President  and  Directors  of  the  Potomac  Company  beg  leave 
to  report  that  they  have  called  for  four  dividends  on  the  several 
subscriptions,  as  follows  : — 

The  1st  of  5    per  cent. 
2d    "    2£    "     " 
3d    "    10    "     " 
4th  "    10    "     " 

Amounting  in  the  whole  to  twelve  thousand,  four  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds  sterling,  of  which  there  has  been  paid  five  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  forty  pounds  sterling. 

The  several  expenditures  will  appear  by  the  Treasurer's  account, 
who  has  in  hand  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds 
18s.  7,6?.  Virginia  currency,  equal  to  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  pounds  10s.  2d.  sterling. 

With  respect  to  the  business,  we  beg  leave  to  refer  to  the 
Secretary's  books,  which  contain  all  our  orders  relating  thereto. 

In  consequence  of  these  orders  the  work  has  been  carried  on  at 
the  Seneca  and  Shenandoah  Falls  while  the  waters  were  low  enough 
to  admit  of  it.  After  the  river  rose  too  high,  the  hands  were 
removed  to  the  Great  Falls,  where  a  considerable  progress  has 
been  made  in  cutting  a  canal,  and  the  most  of  the  men  are  still 
employed  on  account  of  the  uncommon  wet  season. 

We  beg  leave  to  remind  the  subscribers  that  this  is  the  day 
appointed  by  law  for  electing  a  President  and  Directors  for  the 
ensuing  year. 

In  behalf  of  the  Directors, 

G.  WASHINGTON,  P. 


This  being  the  day  for  the  general  meeting  of  the 
company,  a  sufficient  number  of  the  members  appeared 
to  constitute  an  organization  for  business.  Doctor 


4 

88  WASHINGTON: 

David  Stewart  was  appointed  Chairman,  and  Charles 
Lee,  Esq.,  Secretary. 

General  Washington  presented  to  the  Chairman  the 
report  of  the  President  and  Directors  for  the  past 
year,  which  being  read  and  appf oved  of,  was  ordered 
to  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  the  company. 

The  members  then  proceeded  to  the  annual  election 
of  a  President  and  four  Directors,  when  the  following 
named  gentlemen  were  elected : — 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON,  President. 

THOMAS  JOHNSTON,  THOMAS  S.  LEE,  GEORGE  GILPIN, 
JOHN  FITZGERALD,  Directors. 

A  committee  consisting  of  Col.  Robt.  T.  Hooe, 
Capt.  John  Thos.  Boucher,  and  Col.  William  Syles, 
were  appointed  to  examine  the  Treasurer's  account, 
and  Directors'  books  of  proceeding  for  the  past  year, 
and  also  to  receive  an  account  from  each  of  the 
Directors  of  their  expenditures,  and  to  make  report 
thereof  to  the  meeting. 

These  duties  having  been  performed,  they  reported, 
"  that  they  had  carefully  perused  the  books  of 
proceedings  and  orders,  from  which  it  appeared  to 
them,  that  the  affairs  and  business  of  the  company 
was  directed  and  managed  with  great  attention,  care, 
and  ability ;  and  in  their  opinion  the  President  and 
Directors  ought  to  be  allowed  out  of  the  money  of 
the  company  for  their  expenses  in  going  to,  attending 
at,  and  returning  from  ,  their  different  meetings  as 
follows,  viz: — 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  89 

GEN.  WASHINGTON,  Thirty-four  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

THOMAS  JOHNSTON,  ESQ.,      Thirty  pounds. 
THOMAS  SIM  LEE,  ESQ.,       Twenty-two  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
JOHN  FITZGERALD,  ESQ.,       Thirty-four  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
GEORGE  GILPIN,  ESQ.,  Thirty-four  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

** 
It  being  in  proportion  to  the  time  each  has  attended, 

at  thirty  shillings  Virginia  currency  per  day." 

The  report  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  in  testi- 
mony of  the  high  sense  the  company  entertained  of  the 
faithful  and  attentive  manner  the  President,  Directors 
and  Treasurer  discharged  their  respective  trusts, 
James  Keith,  Charles  Simms,  and  David  Stuart,  Esqs., 
were  appointed  to  return  their  thanks  to  those  gentle- 
men. 

The  time  allowed  by  the  charter  for  completing  the 
navigation  from  the  Great  Falls  to  Fort  Cumberland, 
not  being  sufficient,  and  the  importance  of  fixing  to 
it  a  limit  with  some  degree  of  certainty,  the  sub- 
scribers were  induced  to  pass  a  resolution  requesting 
the  President  and  Directors  to  make  an  exploration 
of  that  part  of  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
the  facts  of  the  difficulties  yet  to  be  removed  from  the 
channel,  to  the  legislatures  of  Maryland  and  Virginia, 
and  to  ask  for  an  extension  of  a  definite  period  to 
consummate  (K)  the  enterprise. 

The  stockholders  also  acted  on  a  petition  of  Michael 
Bowman,  who  superintended  the  blasting  of  rocks. 
He  had  received  a  serious  injury  by  the  accidental 
explosion  of  gunpowder  at  the  Shenandoah  Falls 


90  WASHINGTON: 

while  in  the  service  of  the  company.  The  justice 
and  liberality  of  the  company  is  sufficiently  exemplified 
by  the  fact  that  relief  was  granted  him,  that  the 
President  and  Directors  were  not  limited  in  the 
relief  to  be  afforded  by  a  specific  amount,  but  were 
authorized  and  requested  to  allow  him  such  support 
from  time  to  time  as  to  them  should  seem  reasonable. 

This  is  the  first  and  only  circumstance  of  the  kind 
which  is  recorded  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Board, 
and  as  it  illustrates  the  humanity  and  the  generosity 
of  the  proprietors,  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  given 
in  the  compilation. 

A  few  days  after  the  adjournment,  all  the  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  the  proposed  exploration  of  the 
river.  The  best  boats  were  selected  and  put  in  good 
condition.  Provisions,  compass,  sounding  and  mea- 
suring lines,  and  such  other  articles  as  were  necessary 
to  complete  equipage  were  all  provided,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th  day  of  August,  the  convoy  left 
the  shores  upward  bound.  A  more  beautiful  morning 
could  not  have  been  chosen.  Favored  with  a  pleasant 
breeze  and  a  cloudless  sky,  the  voyageurs  took  their 
departure  with  anticipations  of  pleasure  in  the 
performance  of  an  important  service,  and  which  were 
fully  realized.  The  broad  surface  of  the  river,  the 
bold  and  broken  banks,  the  headlands  and  promon- 
tories, the  falls  and  rapids,  the  wild  and  picturesque 
scenery  which  characterizes  the  bounding  shores  of 
the  Potomac,  were  all  calculated  earnestly  to  engage 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  91 

the  attention  of  the  party,  and  materially  to  abate  the 
severity  of  the  service  they  had  undertaken  to  perform. 
A  very  minute  examination  of  the  river  was  made, 
and  they  traced  out,  as  they  ascended  the  stream,  and 
as  far  as  it  was  practicable,  the  line  of  the  channel 
remaining  to  be  improved.  After  an  absence  of  four 
days  in  this  arduous  and  laborious  duty,  the  party 
returned  to  the  Great  Falls.  Before  the  members 
separated,  they  unanimously  agreed  to  present  the 
claims  of  the  company  to  the  legislatures  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia  for  an  extension  of  time  to  complete  the 
navigation  of  the  river,  and  agreed  upon  the  following 
petition  to  be  presented  upon  the  opening  of  the 
sessions : — 

To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assemblies 

of  Virginia  and  Maryland. 

The  humble  petition  of  the  President  and  Directors  of  the 
Potomac  Company  in  behalf  of  the  said  company,  showeth  : 

That  in  and  by  the  acts  of  the  said  assemblies  for  opening  and 
extending  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  River,  it  is  provided  and 
enacted,  that  in  case  the  said  company  should  not  begin  the  work 
mentioned  in  the  said  act,  within  one  year  after  the  company 
should  be  formed,  or  if  the  navigation  should  not  be  made  and 
improved  between  the  Great  Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland  in  the 
manner  therein  before  mentioned,  within  three  years  after  the  said 
company  should  be  formed,  then  the  said  company  should  not  be 
entitled  to  any  benefit,  privileges,  or  advantage  under  the  said  act. 

That  your  petitioners  conceive  the  intention  of  the  legislatures 
in  limiting  the  company  to  three  years  after  the  formation,  for 
making  and  improving  the  navigation  between  the  Great  Falls  and 


92 


WASHINGTON: 


Fort  Cumberland,  was  to  prevent  any  unnecessary  delay  in  exe- 
cuting the  work,  and  on  the  presumption  that  the  time  allowed 
was  fully  sufficient  to  effect  it  in  the  common  and  usual  course  of 
the  seasons. 

That  the  said  company  have  entered  on  the  work  within  the 
time  limited,  and  prosecuted  the  same  at  great  expense  with  unre- 
mitted  assiduity,  with  such  prospects  of  success  that  they  hoped 
and  expected  to  complete  the  whole  navigation  within  the  ten 
years  allowed,  but  that  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and  the  fall 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-five  were  so  unfavorable,  that  the 
hands  employed  in  the  bed  of  the  river  above  the  Great  Falls  were 
often  drove  from  their  work  by  rises  of  the  water,  and  frequently 
kept  out  for  several  days  together,  so  that  the  work  could  not 
proceed  as  was  wished  and  expected.  And  the  last  summer  hath 
proved  so  very  rainy  that  the  water  has  constantly  kept  up  too 
high  to  permit  any  work  to  be  done  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  though 
the  company  retained  a  considerable  number  of  men  in  their  service 
through  the  whole  of  the  last  winter,  with  the  view  of  being  pre- 
pared to  enter  on  the  work  about  the  twentieth  day  of  June,  the 
time  that  the  water  is  generally  low  enough  for  such  purpose,  and 
thus  by  extraordinary  exertion  to  retrieve  the  unavoidable  loss  of 
time  in  the  preceding  year. 

Your  petitioners  therefore  in  behalf  of  the  said  company  pray, 
"that  acts  of  the  said  Assemblies  may  be  passed  whereby  the  said 
company  may  be  indulged  with  time  till  the  seventeenth  day  of 
November,  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety,  or  such  other  time  as  to 
your  houses  shall  seem  reasonable  for  making  and  improving  the 
navigation  between  the  Great  Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland." 


This  petition  was  submitted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  meeting  of  the  Board  on  the  2d  day  of  October  by 
the  President  of  the  company.  It  was  unanimously 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  93 

adopted,  and  a  committee  was  selected  to  proceed  to 
Richmond  and  to  Annapolis  to  present  it  to  the 
legislatures  as  soon  as  they  should  be  in  session. 

Upon  its  presentation  by  the  committee,  the 
General  Assemblies  promptly  acted  upon  it,  and 
authorized  the  extension  of  the  time  prayed  for 
opening  and  extending  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac. 
The  preamble  to  this  supplemental  act  declares, 
that  "  Whereas  the  two  last  summers  have  been  so 
unfavorable  to  the  work  of  making  and  improving  the 
navigation  above  the  Great  Falls  in  the  Potomac 
River,  that  the  same  cannot  probably  be  perfected 
within  the  three  years  limited  and  allowed  by  the  act 
for  establishing  a  company  for  opening  and  extending 
the  navigation  of  the  River  Potomac,"  and  therefore 
granted  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  allowing  until 
the  seventeenth  day  of  November,  1790,  to  complete 
the  improvement. 

The  appointment  of  Mr.  Richardson  Stewart  as  the 
principal  Assistant  Superintendent,  but  with  powers 
and  a  discretion  conferred  upon  the  General  Superin- 
tendent, was  not  regarded  by  Mr.  Rumsey  with  entire 
complacency  and  satisfaction. 

The  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  construction 
of  machinery,  with  the  high  personal  character  he 
possessed,  pointed  out  Mr.  Stewart  as  a  very  suitable 
individual  to  be  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
company.  At  this  time  the  importance  of  the  use  of 
machinery  to  raise  the  large  boulders  imbedded  in  the 


94  WASHINGTON: 

channel  of  the  river,  was  beginning  to  be  estimated, 
and  no  one  was  known  better  calculated  to  accomplish 
this  purpose. 

A  short  time  after  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stewart, 
it  was  evident  that  Mr.  Rumsey  was  becoming  dis- 
satisfied, and  on  several  occasions  evinced  a  disposi- 
tion to  impair  the  confidence  of  the  Board  in  his  skill 
and  judgment  and  in  the  management  of  the  import- 
ant interest  which  was  committed  to  his  hands.  A 
feeling  allied  to  jealousy,  and  perhaps  envy,  so 
controlled  him,  that  he  retired  from  the  service  of 
the  company  under  the  plea  of  the  incompetency, 
ignorance,  and  want  of  truth  on  the  part  of  the  newly 
appointed  superintendent,  and  immediately  prepared 
a  list  of  charges  against  him,  which  he  presented  in 
person  to  the  Board. 

They  were  read  by  the  clerk  as  follows : — 


1st.  The  incapacity  of  the  said  manager  for  carrying  on  the 
great  business  of  opening  the  River  Potomac,  his  want  of  compe- 
tent knowledge  in  mechanics,  viz :  in  building  four  machines  at  a 
great  expense  for  raising  stone,  none  of  which  answered  the 
purpose. 

2d.  The  said  manager's  want  of  truth  and  candor  in  causing 
the  overseers  to  have  buried  one  of  the  said  machines  on  the 
arrival  of  General  Washington,  that  his  ignorance  might  not  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  President  and  Directors,  or  accounting  for 
the  money  so  uselessly  expended. 

3d.  The  fifth  machine  he  erected  was  still  insufficient  for  the 
purpose  intended,  and  did  not  succeed  until  materially  amended  by 


THE   POTOMAC  COMPANY.  95 

the  late  manager  James  Ramsey,  notwithstanding  he  had  disobeyed 
the  orders  of  the  said  Rumsey  before  in  constructing  a  machine  for 
the  above  purpose,  and  to  conceal  his  own  miscondnct  had  endea- 
vored to  ridicule  the  said  machine  to  the  overseers  by  putting  it 
up  before  it  was  finished  as  planned  by  the  said  Rumsey,  by  which 
conduct  not  less  than  sixty  dollars  were  entirely  wasted. 

4th.  The  said  manager  being  unworthy  of  confidence  by  numerous 
misrepresentations  to  the  President  and  Directors,  especially  the 
rock  joining  the  canal  (a  place  sufficiently  known  to  the  said 
Stewart  and  Directors  without  further  description  here),  first  by 
greatly  approving  it,  and  then  concealing  that  approbation  from 

Gen.  Washington,  Col.  Gilpin,  and  Col. ,  and  his  extreme 

ignorance  in  intending  but  one  wall  (as  he  informed  the  late 
manager  James  Rumsey),  which  he  himself  had  staked  off  on  the 
inside  of  the  canal,  instead  of  the  outside  thereof,  which  all  engineers 
will  condemn. 

5th.  The  said  manager  did  greatly  retard  the  operations  by 
frequently  ordering  the  people  from  the  works  the  overseers  had 
put  them  at,  declaring  it  was  wrong,  and  setting  them  to  work  at 
other  places  without  any  reason  therefor,  especially  telling  one  of 
the  overseers  who  convinced  him  he  was  wrong,  that  it  was  to  keep 
up  his  dignity. 

6th.  That  the  said  manager  did  greatly  injure  the  said  work,  by 
introducing  very  improper  persons  as  overseers,  especially  Owen 
Dolly,  whose  bad  conduct  even  he  was  so  ashamed  of  that  he 
endeavored  to  hide  it  from  the  President  and  Directors  by  denying 
he  ever  acted  as  an  overseer,  thereby  adding  falsity  to  fault,  and 
. Knox,  who  is  now  in  Fairfax  jail  committed  for  forgery. 

7th.  That  the  said  manager  was  very  severe,  not  to  say  cruel,  to 
the  servants,  which  was  not  only  very  detrimental  to  those  on  the 
spot,  but  the  rumors  thereof  reaching  the  neighborhood  many 
persons  coming  to  hire  at  the  works  were  deterred  and  returned. 
That  his  misconduct  has  obliged  Leonard  Jamison  and  Joshua 
Crow,  two  overseers  of  unexceptionable  good  character,  to  leave  the 


96  WASHINGTON: 

works,  and  has  declared  that  old  convicts  make  the  best  overseers,  as 
themselves  know  what  it  is  to  be  whipped. 

8th.  That  the  said  manager,  by  declaring  that  officers  of  justice 
should  not  serve  any  process  at  the  works,  thereby  encouraged  the 
people  under  his  command  to  depredate  upon  the  neighboring 
inhabitants  and  destroy  their  stocks,  and  by  his  cruelty  and  bad 
behavior  to  individuals  prevented  necessaries  being  brought, 
especially  his  ordering  a  servant  to  spit  in  the  face  of  Thomas 
Moxley,  an  inoffensive  old  man,  and  causing  another  servant  to 
burn  Michael  Barnet  with  a  hot  iron  without  reason,  which 
unworthy  office  the  servant  performed  with  such  reluctance,  that 
the  manager,  to  compel  it,  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  blows, 
the  injured  person  and  beaten  servant  equally  and  justly  complain- 
ing of  such  unparalleled  wrongs. 

9th.  That  when  James  Rumsey,  the  late  manager,  endeavored 
to  compose  the  differences  that  had  arisen  between  the  people  at 
the  works  and  the  neighborhood,  in  his  absence  the  said  Stewart 
endeavored  to  keep  up  the  animosity  by  blaming  the  neighbors  to 
the  late  manager,  and  exculpating  the  servants  before  the  magis- 
trates, and  that  upon  all  occasions  in  his  power  would  insinuate 
against  the  late  manager,  repeating  some  things  untrue,  by  con- 
cealing others,  and  in  particular  once  before  two  of  the  Directors 
(wishing  to  saddle  the  late  manager  with  the  disorders  which  had 
happened  in  his  absence)  asserted,  that  he  never  saw  a  set  of 
better  behaved  men,  or  men  under  better  discipline,  in  his  life, 
than  the  people  were  at  the  works  on  the  arrival  of  the  said 
Rumsey. 

10th.  That  much  injury  has  accrued  to  the  company  and  the 
work  much  retarded  by  the  fears  of  the  country  people  occasioned 
by  the  manager's  connivance  at  or  occasioning  of  the  ill  treatment 
which  too  many  persons  had  received,  whom  business  or  curiosity 
had  induced  to  visit  the  works,  insomuch  that  one  of  the  contractors 
to  feed  the  people  (Col.  Dark),  since  the  appointment  of  Stewart 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  97 

cannot  get  wagoners  or  stock  drivers  to  convey  the  provisions  to 
the  works,  unless  he  will  send  one  of  his  sons  to  protect  them. 

(Signed)        JAMES  RTJMSEY. 
August  4,  1786. 


A  copy  of  these  charges  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  President  and  Directors  of  the  company  by 
Mr.  Rumsey  on  the  4th  of  September,  and  had  been 
duly  considered,  and  witnesses  examined,  and  the 
Board  were  prepared,  the  3d  of  October,  to  submit 
their  opinion  of  the  matters  in  controversy.  All  the 
members  were  present,  and  also  Mr.  Rumsey  and  Mr. 
Stewart. 

The  President   requested   the   clerk   to  read   the 

A 

opinion  as  follows : — 

»• 
V^--»  "*' 

i  *»       *T~ 

The  Board  having  heard  the  charges  aforesaid  exhibited  by  Mr. 
James  Rumsey,  and  the  testimony  adduced  in  support  of  them,  and 

f    having  maturely  considered  the  testimony  in  support  of  them,  are 
&.  •   •  •  *     '    * 

of  opinion : — 

On  the  1st.  Previous  to  the  first  appointment,  the  President  and 
Directors  took  the  measures  they  thought  most  likely  to  give  them 
an  opportunity  of  employing  managers  who  had  experience  ill 
works  of  the  nature  of  that  in  contemplation,  but  as  no  person 
offered  who  had  practical  knowledge  in  such  business,  Mr.  Rumsey 
was  appointed,  and  continued  as  principal  till  his  resignation,  on 
which  event  the  Board,  under  all  circumstances;  advanced  the 
present  to  the  place  of  the  late  manager  without  any  endeavors  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Stewart  to  impress  on  the  Board  an  idea  of  his 

7 

f.  .  •    *  • 

**  '  •    *.«.  *  .  * 


•*.' 

98  WASHINGTON: 

competency  to  the  work,  and  in  general  he  has  not  fallen  short  of 
their  expectations  in  its  progress.  The  defect  alleged  in  the  four 
machines  for  raising  stone  was  so  easily  remedied  by  a  small 
addition,  that  the  Board  do  not  consider  those  machines  as  any 
evidence  of  Mr.  Stewart's  want  of  mechanical  knowledge. 

2d,  It  appears  to  the  Board  that  no  order  was  given  by  Mr. 
Stewart  to  have  one  of  the  machines  buried,  and  that  the  part  of 
the  work  concealed  has  been  since  made  use  of,  and  that  Mr. 
Stewart's  concealment  of  a  part  of  it  was  not  from  any  reprehen- 
sible motive,  and  that  on  the  whole  of  the  evidence  this  seems  to 
be  a  frivolous  charge. 

3d.  The  inference  in  which  this  charge  consists  is  unsupported. 

4th.  No  misrepresentations  having  been  made  to  the  President 
and  Directors,  the  first  part  of  the  charge  is  unfounded,  and  no 
evidence  appears  to  support  the  remaining  part  of  it. 

5th.  It  does  not  appear  to  the  Board  that  Mr.  Stewart  used  any 
severities  that  the  necessity  of  the  case  did  not  require,  and  that 
Mr.  Jamison  and  Mr.  Crow  having  left  the  works  should  not  be 
imputed  to  any  misconduct  in  Mr.  Stewart. 

8th.  The  first  part  of  the  charge  is  unsupported  by  evidence, 
but  that  facts  within  the  knowledge  of  the  Board  are  in  contra- 
diction to  it.  With  respect  to  Moxley,  the  evidence  proves  the 


r  * 


order  to  have  been  given,  but  not  executed,  and  that  there  must 


have  been  some  misconception,  as  Mr.  Stewart  and  he  were  on 
friendly  terms  and  no  provocation  given.  With  respect  to  Barnet, 
the  charge  is  proved,  and  that  in  this  Mr.  Stewart  acted  with  an 
impropriety  the  Board  disapproves  of. 

9th.  The  charge  of  Mr.  Stewart  endeavoring  to  keep  up  the 
animosity  between  the  people  at  the  works  and  the  neighborhood, 
is  not  proved.  His  conduct  before  the  magistrates  from  the 
information  of  one  of  them,  appears  to  this  Board  to  be  proper 
and  commendable  ;  and  the  Board,  nor  any  member  of  it,  can 
recollect  any  conversation  or  insinuation  of  Mr.  Stewart's,  which 


had  any  tendency  to  lessen  the  late  manager  in  their  opinion. 

t .     **  *  *v>»  'V    ;*.  '•  V 
*«»*... 


»         _s^w  m.^ 


* 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  99 

10th.  That  the  fears  of  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  to  visit 
the  works  have  prevented  that  confidence  and  free  intercourse 
which  is  desirable  is  too  true,  but  the  Board  do  not  believe  that 
Mr.  Stewart  hath  given  just  cause  for  those  fears.  The  Board 
have  taken  every  means  in  their  power  to  employ  laborers  and 
workmen  who  they  expected  would  be  the  most  easily  governed, 
but  their  endeavors  have  been  ineffectual.  They  have  been 
reduced  to  the  necessity  either  to  let  the  work  stand,  or  of  pur- 
chasing servants  and  hiring  such  as  have  offered,  amongst  whom 
many  have  proved  to  be  of  very  bad  morals  and  turbulent  disposi- 
tions. And  this  Board  are  of  opinion  that  the  fears  of  the  country 
people  have  originated  in  the  ill  conduct  of  the  people  necessarily 
employed  in  the  works,  and  have  been  widened  by  exaggeration. 
The  Board  are  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Stewart,  from  several  instances 
of  his  conduct,  hath  exerted  himself  to  preserve  regularity  and 
order,  and  have  a  confidence  that  his  conduct  and  that  of  all 
the  company's  officers  will  be  calculated  to  this  end,  without  which 
they  can  as  little  merit  and  expect  the  approbation  of  this  Board. 


During  the  past  few  months  the  number  of  hands 
in  the  service  of  the  company  was  materially 
diminished,  and  as  the  present  season  was  most 
favorable  to  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  the  Secretary 
was  authorized  to  advertise  for  negroes  to  be  hired  on 
the  same  terms  they  were  engaged  the  preceding  year. 

The  managers  were  also  directed  to  retain  such  of 
the  hands  as  they  might  judge  necessary,  at  monthly 
wages  between  the  12th  day  of  November  and  the 
12th  day  of  April  next,  not  exceeding  32s.  sterling 
per  month  for  common  hands,  nor  40s.  sterling  for 
prime  hands,  with  the  usual  ration  except  spirits,  and 


100  WASHINGTON: 

4 

with  such  reasonable  allowance  of  spirits  as  the 
manager  may  from  time  to  time  think  proper,  but 
shall  not  suffer  rations  to  be  issued  to  those  who  do 
not  work,  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  and  then  to  be 
charged  to  and  deducted  from  the  pay  of  the  persons 
who  receive  them,  unless  in  the  few  instances  where 
the  circumstances  and  merit  of  the  man  may  claim 
such  assistance,  of  which  the  Board  expect  account 
or  information  from  time  to  time,  to  determine 
whether  the  provisions  and  money  of  the  company 
are  frugally  expended. 

Accounts  amounting  to  £582  12s.  6d.  were  pre- 
sented and  passed  at  this  meeting  of  the  Board. 

It  was  for  some  time  apparent  that  unless  extraor- 
dinary measures  were  adopted  to  compel  subscribers 
to  pay  the  dividends  that  were  called  in  by  resolution 
of  the  President  and  Board,  the  funds  in  the  treasury 
would  be  insufficient  to  the  employment  of  the  force 
that  was  necessary  to  secure  the  earliest  completion' 
of  the  enterprise.  The  delinquent  stockholders  were 
several  times  addressed  on  the  subject,  and,  with 
few  exceptions,  failed  compliance  with  the  demands 
of  the  company.  Five  months  had  nearly  elapsed, 
and  the  funds  were  gradually  diminishing,  and  without 
the  prospect  of  replenishment.  In  consequence  of 
this  condition  of  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  company, 
the  President  deemed  it  his  duty  to  call  a  special 
meeting  of  the  Board. 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.         101 

This  meeting  was  held  at  Alexandria  on  Wednes- 
day, the  3d  day  of  January,  1787. 

Present,,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

JOHN  FITZGERALD,  Esq.,  GEORGE  GILPIN,  Esq., 
Directors. 

The  President  then  briefly  stated  the  circumstances 
which  induced  him  to  call  this  meeting,  the  funds  in 
the  treasury  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  it  was  a 
matter  of  much  importance  to  the  success  of  the 
enterprise,  to  continue  the  present  force  in  the  service 
of  the  company,  but  which  could  not  be  done,  unless 
some  measures  were  adopted  to  compel  delinquent 
stockholders  to  pay  the  assessments  upon  the  shares, 
in  obedience  to  the  Resolution  of  the  Board  in  August 
last.  He  therefore  earnestly  invited  deliberation  and 
efficient  action  on  the  subject.  After  some  conversa- 
tion, and  the  interchange  of  views,  it  was  ordered 
that  a  notification  be  directed  to  the  subscribers  in 
the  words  following,  viz : — 

>^1 
BY  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  DIRECTORS 

OF  THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY: 

Notice  is  hereby  given  to  such  of  the  subscribers  for  shares  in 
the  company,  as  are  delinquents  in  making  the  payments  heretofore 
called  for  by  the  Board,  that  unless  the  payment  first  called  for,  of  5 
per  cent.,  and  the  second,  of  2^  per  cent.,  on  each  share,  are  made 
to  the  Treasurer  by  the  first  of  March  next,  the  third,  of  10  per 
cent.,  by  the  first  of  April  next,  and  the  fourth,  of  10  per  cent.,  by 
the  first  of  May  next,  they  will  proceed  to  make  immediate  sale  of 
the  shares,  agreeably  to  law.  And  for  the  information  of  such 


102  WASHINGTON: 

persons  as  have  not  made  themselves  acquainted  with  the  directions 
of  the  law  in  this  case,  the  Board  think  proper  to  inform  them 
that  if  such  sale  does  not  produce  the  full  sum  ordered  and  directed 
to  be  advanced,  as  aforesaid,  with  the  incidental  charges,  the  said 
President  and  Directors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  may,  in  the  name 
of  the  company,  sue  for,  and  recover  the  balance,  by  action  of 
debtor  on  the  case,  and  the  said  purchaser  or  purchasers  shall  be 
subject  to  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as  if  the  said  sale  and 
conveyance  had  been  made  by  the  original  proprietor.  And  it  is 
expected  that  those  who  have  it  in  their  power,  will  make  their 
payments  as  early  as  possible,  that  the  Board  may  be  enabled  to 
proceed  in  the  work  with  new  vigor. 

By  order  of  the  Board, 

(Signed)  J.  POTTS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


.  This  notice  did  not  produce  the  effect  desired  or 
expected;  a  few  of  the  proprietors  paid  into  the 
hands  of  the  Treasurer  the  first  and  second  dividends 
within  the  time  specified,  but  a  large  majority 
continued  delinquent;  and  on  the  3d  day  of  April, 
1787,  the  following  advertisement  was  ordered  to  be 
published : — 

BY  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  DIRECTORS 

OF  THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY  : 

Notice  is  hereby  given,  that  in  the  pursuance  of  the  power  and 
authority  vested  in  them  by  the  act  for  opening  and  extending 
the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  River,  forty-six  shares  in  the  said 
company  will  be  sold  at  auction,  at  the  court-house,  in  Alexandria, 
in  the  State  of  Virginia,  on  Monday  the  fourteenth  day  of  May 


THE  POTOMAC   COMPANY.  103 

next,  at  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  nine  shares,  in  the  said 
company,  will  be  sold  at  Shuter's  tavern,  in  Georgetown,  in  the 
State  of  Maryland,  on  Monday  the  twenty-first  day  of  May  next, 
at  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  they  being  the  shares  of  such  of  the 
proprietors  as  are  delinquents  in  making  the  first  and  second 
payments  on  their  respective  shares  which  have  been  heretofore 
called  for  by  the  Board. 

By  order  of  the  Board, 

J.  POTTS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


Upon  the  day  of  sale,  the  Directors  proceeded  to 
the  court-house,  in  Alexandria,  to  give  such  informa- 
tion to  bidders,  in  relation  to  the  stock  to  be  offered, 
as  they  might  desire. 

The  novelty  of  the  occasion  drew  thither  a  number 
of  persons.  The  auctioneer  was  unsuccessful ;  no  bids 
were  made,  and  the  Directors  present  suspended  the 
proceedings,  and  the  following  notice  was  directed  to 
be  published : — 

BY  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  DIRECTORS 

OF  THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY  : 

Notice  is  hereby  given  that  in  pursuance  of  the  power  and 
authority  vested  in  them  by  the  act  for  opening  and  extending  the 
navigation  of  the  Potomac  River,  all  the  shares  in  the  company  on 
which  the  requisitions  heretofore  made  by  the  Board  have  not 
been  paid  will  be  offered  for  sale  at  auction  ;  such  of  them  as  were 
subscribed  for  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  at  the  court-hous.6  in 
Alexandria,  on  Tuesday  the  26th  day  of  June  next,  between  the 


104  WASHINGTON: 

hours  of  eleven  and  twelve  ;  and  such  of  them  as  were  subscribed 
for  in  Maryland,  at  Shuter's  tavern,  in  Georgetown,  on  the  day 
following. 


On  the  day  specified  in  the  above  notice,  the  shares 
in  the  company  were  offered  for  sale  at  Georgetown, 
and  was  attended  with  the  same  result  as  that 
previously  at  Alexandria.  No  bids  were  made,  but 
many  of  the  delinquent  stockholders  having  made 
payment  of  their  arrearages,  and  others  having  given 
assurances  of  paying  within  a  short  time,  the  Board 
deemed  it  advisable  to  indulge  the  delinquent 
proprietors  of  shares  until  the  6th  day  of  August 
next;  and  gave  public  notice  that  if  the  several 
payments  heretofore  called  for,  shall  not  have  been 
made  by  the  day  stated,  the  shares  will  positively  be 
sold. 

The  6th  of  August  being  the  day  appointed  by  law 
for  holding  the  general  meeting,  all  the  shareholders 
were  earnestly  requested  to  attend,  either  in  person 
or  by  proxy,  in  order  that  some  efficient  measures  be 
adopted,  to  place  the  affairs  of  the  company  in  a 
condition  to  prosecute  the  work  with  energy  and 
force. 

It  was  also  ordered  that  the  further  sum  of  6  per 
cent,  be  paid  on  each  share  on  or  before  the  fifteenth 
day  of  August  next,  and  the  Secretary  to  give  an 
order  on  the  Treasurer  for  £300  sterling  in  favor  of 
Col.  Dark  in  account. 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.         105 

On  the  day  appointed  for  holding  the  general  meet- 
ing at  Georgetown  and  for  disposing  of  the  shares 
of  the  members  delinquent  in  making  the  payments, 
called  for  by  previous  orders  of  the  Board,  there 
being  but  a  few  of  the  proprietors  in  attendance,  the 
business  intended  to  be  brought  before  it  was 
postponed  to  the  22d  day  of  October,  to  which  day 
the  annual  election  was  also  deferred. 

The  general  meeting  was  held  in  pursuance  to  the 
last  adjournment,  and  was  organized  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Daniel  Carroll,  Esq.,  Chairman,  and  John 
Potts,  Jr.,  Esq.,  acting  as  Clerk. 

A  list  of  members  present  being  taken,  and  also  of 
the  proxies,  it  appeared  that  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  shares  were  represented. 

The  meeting  then  proceeded  to  the  election  of 
President  and  Directors  for  the  ensuing  year.  On 
counting  the  ballots,  it  was  determined  that  the 
following  named  gentlemen  were  unanimously 
elected : — 

GENERAL  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

THOS.  JOHNSTON,  THOS.  S.  LEE,  JOHN  FITZGERALD, 
GEORGE  GILPIN,  Esqrs.,  Directors. 

It  was  then  resolved  that  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  receive  and  examine  the  report  and  proceedings  of 
the  President  and  Directors  for  the  last  year,  to 
consist  of  six  members,  three  of  whom  to  be  a 
quorum,  to  act  and  make  a  report  of  the  same  to  the 
next  general  meeting.  Wm.  Herbert,  Wm.  Hunter 


106  WASHINGTON: 

Jr.,  Josiah  Wasson,  Saml.  Davidson,  Bernard  O'Neale, 
and  "Wm.  Deakins,  Jr.,  were  accordingly  appointed. 

It  was  also  resolved  -that  the  President  and 
Directors  be  requested  to  apply  to  the  Legislatures  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland  to  authorize  them  to  recover 
in  a  summary  manner  the  sums  of  money  called  for 
from  time  to  time,  from  such  of  the  proprietors  as  are 
delinquent  in  making  their  payments. 

The  funds  of  the  company  were  rapidly  diminishing. 
For  some  time  extraordinary  drafts  were  made  upon 
the  treasury,  on  account  of  the  increased  number  of 
hands  employed  at  the  Great  Falls,  and  in  the 
construction  of  boats  and  the  machinery  for  raising 
rocks  from  the  bed  of  the  river.  The  efforts  of  the 
officers  to  induce  the  stockholders  yet  delinquent  in 
the  payment  of  their  arrearages,  to  make  remittances, 
were  so  far  unavailing,  and  the  Board  found  it 
necessary  at  its  next  meeting  to  anticipate  by  a 
specified  time  the  completion  of  sufficient  part  of  the 
navigation  to  give  encouragement  to  the  proprietors, 
and  insure  remittances  to  the  Treasurer.  A  variety 
of  causes  had  operated  to  check  the  progress  of  the 
improvement  thus  far,  notwithstanding  the  unceasing 
efforts  of 'the  President  and  Directors  of  the  company. 
Many  of  the  difficulties  that  were  encountered  were 
unavoidable,  and  could  only  be  overcome  by  a  patient 
forbearance,  a  steady  perseverance,  and  a  continued 
confidence  in  £he  final  success  of  the  enterprise. 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  107 

The  President  called  a  meeting  of  the  Board  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Shenandoah,  on  2d  day  of  June,  1788. 

Present :  Gen.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

THOS.  S.  LEE,  GEORGE  GILPIN,  THOS.  JOHNSTON, 
Directors. 

In  consequence  of  the  removal  of  Mr.  Potts,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Company,  to  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Harts- 
horne,  the  Treasurer,  was  requested  to  make  entries  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  meeting,  and  to  act  in  this 
capacity  until  a  suitable  person  could  be  chosen  as 
secretary.  . 

Mr.  Hartshorne  presented  a  brief  but  interesting 
statement  of  the  amount  of  funds  in  the  treasury ;  this 
statement  formed  the  basis  upon  which  proceedings  of 
the  meeting  were  founded. 

After  much  conversation  and  the  interchange  of 
views,  it  was  unanimously  admitted  that  the  current 
expenses  of  the  organization  might  be  lessened  with- 
out jeopardizing  the  progress  of  the  work,  or  the 
assurance  to  the  stockholders  that,  by  the  approaching 
season,  the  navigation  would  be  so  far  perfected  as  to 
permit  the  passage  of  loaded  boats  from  the  reach 
above  the  Seneca  Falls  to  tide-water.  It  was  also 
determined  that  as  soon  as  the  state  of  the  water  was 
sufficiently  low  in  July  to  work  to  advantage  in  the 
channel  of  the  Shenandoah  Falls,  the  number  of  hands 
would  be  augmented  at  that  point  to  remove  its 
obstructions  as  speedily  as  possible. 

With    these  encouraging   proceedings,  the    Board 


108  WASHINGTON: 

cherished  the  hope  of  receiving  early  and  efficient 
pecuniary  relief  from  the  proprietors,  and  which  would 
enable  them,  to  do  more  than  they  had  promised  to 
them  with  the  means  in  their  possession. 

The  first  step  towards  abridging  the  expenses  of 
the  company  was  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
managers  to  one  for  the  entire  line,  and  specially 
fixing  his  salary' — and  io  allow  no  extra  or  contingent 
accounts  to  any  officer  of  the  company.  The  principal 
manager  was  allowed  £25,  in  addition  to  his  annual 
salary,  per  year  in  future,  to  indemnify  him  for  the 
expenses  he  may  incur  by  the  visits  of  the  President 
and  Directors,  and  strangers  travelling,  and  other 
personal  expenses. 

Mr.  Richardson  Stewart,  who  had  been  in  the 
employment  of  the  company  as  manager  since  March, 
1786,  was  removed  for  reasons  relative  to  the  interest 
of  the  company, 'and  the  assistant,  Mr.  James  Smith, 
was  appointed  principal  manager  in  his  place. 

For  some  time  past  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Stewart  had 
created  dissatisfaction  among  the  subordinate  officers 
of  the  company  on  the  river,  and  sundry  charges  of  a 
serious  nature  were  brought  against  him,  which  were 
submitted  to  the  Board  to  be  investigated.  Mr. 
Stewart's  absence  prevented  the  examination  then 
taking  place,  and  the  matter  was  postponed  with  the 
verbal  understanding  that  in  the  event  of  the  charges 
not  being  withdrawn,  they  would,  upon  application,  be 
called  up  at  a  future  day. 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.         109 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  President  and 
Board  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  Stewart: — 

SHENANDOAH,  June  2,  1788. 
MR.  RICHARDSON  STEWART  : 

We  met  to  day  by  appointment  to  hear  the  charges  against  you, 
but  could  not  with  propriety  go  into  an  examination  of  witnesses 
in  your  absence,  which,  however  to  be  regretted,  we  believe  involun- 
tary. On  a  general  view  of  the  situation  of  the  company's  affairs, 
being  of  opinion  that  the  present  fund  or  prospects  will  not  warrant 
our  continuing  two  managers,  we  have  come  to  the  inclosed 
resolution.  It  is  with  reluctance  we  found  ourselves  under  the 
necessity  to  make  arrangements  which,  at  this  point  of  time,  may 
possibly  be  thought,  by  your  enemies,  to  be  occasioned  by  the 
charges  against  you,  but  it  has  proceeded  solely  from  our  duty 
and  inclination  to  promote  the  company's  interest,  without  being 
influenced  in  any  degree  by  facts  alleged  and  not  examined  into. 
The  preference  given  to  Mr.  Smith  is  on  different  principles,  and 
we  expect  cannot  surprise  you  or  hurt  your  feelings.  We  request 
on  the  expiration  of  your  present  year,  you  will  deliver  up  the 
property  of  the  company  under  your  care  into  his  hands. 
We  are,  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servants, 

G.  W. 

T.  J. 

T.  L. 

G. 

Mr.  Stewart  not  being  present,  but,  as  the  Board  have  reason  to 
believe,  necessarily  absent,  attending  a  law  suit,  the  President  and 
Directors  decline  going  into  an .  examination  of  witnesses  in 
support  of  the  charges  exhibited  against  him. 

And  it  is  also  ordered,  that  no  overseer  be  retained  in  the 
company's  service  at  higher  wages  than  four  pounds  per  month. 


110  WASHINGTON: 

The  subject  of  replenishing  the  funds  in  the 
treasury  still  pressed  itself  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Board ;  and  it  was  decided  that  a  communication  be 
addressed  to  every  delinquent  proprietor,  to  pay  all 
the  arrearages  on  his  stock ;  and  also  to  inclose 
therewith  copies  of  all  notices  of  previous  and  existing 
delinquencies  heretofore  published,  with  the  following 
explicit  order: — 


Therefore,  it  is  ordered  that  each  and  every  stockholder  or 
proprietor  of  any  share  or  shares  in  the  said  company,  pay  to  Mr. 
Hartshorne,  Treasurer  of  said  company,  all  such  sums  of  money  as 
now  remain  due  from  them  respectively,  on  account  of  the  fore- 
going orders,  or  any  of  them,  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of  October 
next. 

GEO.  WASHINGTON,  P. 
• 

GEO.  GILPIN, 

JOHN  FITZGERALD. 


The  next  annual  meeting  of  the  stockholders  was 
held  in  Alexandria,  on  the  4th  day  of  August,  1788, 
and  was  organized  by  appointing  Philip  Richard 
Fendall,  Esq.,  Chairman,  and  William  Hartshorne, 
Esq.,  Secretary. 

The  report  of  the  President  and  Directors  for  the 
preceding  year  was  presented  and  read;  and  from 
which  it  appeared  that  in  -consequence  of  the  unusual 
height  of  the  water  in  the  river,  during  the  past 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  HI 

spring  and  summer,  the  progress  of  the  improvement 
was  greatly  retarded,  but  hopes  were  expressed  that 
an  ordinary  favorable  season  would  secure  the  removal 
of  the  obstacles  in  the  channel  of  navigation  from 
the  Great  Falls  to  Cumberland,  sufficiently,  by  the 
1st  of  November  ensuing,  to  permit  loaded  boats  to 
run  between  these  points. 

It  also  appeared  that  the  several  sums  of  money 
paid  into  the  treasury  since  the  last  meeting  of  the 
company  amounted  to  £2,990  2s.  2d.  sterling,  which 
being  added  to  the  amount  previously  paid,  made  an 
aggregate  of  £13,719  ISs.  Sd.  sterling. 

A  committee,  composed  of  Col.  Hooe,  Col.  John 
Allison,  and  Mr.  William  Lowry,  was  appointed  by 
the  Chairman,  to  examine  the  accounts  of  the 
Treasurer.  This  examination  haring  been  made,  the 
committee  reported  that  th*e  accounts  were  fairly 
stated,  and  exhibited  a  balance  in  hand  of  £169 
10*.  6d.  Virginia  currency. 

Although  General  Washington  earnestly  desired 
to  withdraw  from  the  position  he  had  occupied  in  the 
Potomac  Company  from  the  day  of  its  organization, 
the  stockholders  were  unwilling  to  permit  him  to 
retire  from  the  Presidency  and  its  active  duties, 
without  a  manifestation  of  their  regard  and  gratitude, 
and  an  expression  of  the  value  of  his  services,  and 
of  their  appreciation  of  the  zeal  and  ability  he  had 
devoted  to  their  interests. 

This  was  the  memorable  year  preceding  the  change 


.% 


112  WASHINGTON: 

of  the  government  from  a  confederation  to  a  consti- 
tutional form.  The  subject  had  already,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  excited  the  public  attention,  but  it  was 
not  a  question  "  Whom  shall  we  choose  as  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States  ?" 

For  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation,  all  eyes 
were  directed  to  the  illustrious  "Washington.  He 
had  led  the  country  in  triumph  through  the  struggles 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  secured  to  it  the  blessings 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  had  deeply  implanted 
himself  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  by  his 
own  disinterested  example  in  the  holy  cause  of 
freedom,  a  love  of  country,  and  an  uncontrollable 
repugnance  to  tyranny  and  oppression.  And  every 
American  bosom,  overflowing  with  gratitude  for  his 
patriotic  services,  and  unspotted  purity  of  character, 
was  ready  with  one  outburst  of  acclamation  to  place 
him  in  the  chair  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation. 

With  this  unanimity  of  national  sentiment,  the 
Directors  and  proprietors  of  the  Potomac  Company 
cordially  united,  however  painful  would  be  the 
separation  of  their  official  relation  to  the  beloved 
Washington;  the  public  good  demanded  the  sacrifice, 
and  they  were  prepared  to  yield  to  its  necessity  with 
becoming  grace  and  resignation. 

This  was  the  day  for  the  annual  election,  and 
General  Washington,  having  been  earnestly  entreated, 
yielded  to  the  wishes  of  the  proprietors  to  allow  his 
name  to  remain  as  a  Director  of  the  company.  Yet 


THE   POTOMAC   COMPANY.  113 

still  more  to  distinguish  the  love  and  admiration  the 
members  of  the  company  cherished  for  the  man,  who 
was  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen,"  they  postponed  the  election  of 
President  of  the  Potomac  Company  to  the  year  1789. 
This  was  a  compliment  delicately  and  gracefully 
bestowed;  and  could  not  have  been  more  justly 
deserved.  It  was  fully  appreciated  by  General 
Washington. 

Before  the  adjournment,  Mr.  Richardson  Stewart 
presented  an  account,  from  Doctor  Tiffin,  of  eight 
pounds,  Virginia  currency,  for  curing  Patrick  Todd 
of  a  wound  he  had  received  while  in  the  service  of 
the  company,  and  which  the  treasurer  was  authorized 
to  pay. 

And  also,  on  motion  of  Col.  Fitzgerald,  seconded 
by  Mr.  Dulany,  a  committee  was  appointed,  composed 
of  Col.  Hooe,  Col.  John  Allison,  and  Mr.  Lowry, 
from  Virginia,  and  Col.  Deakins,  Mr.  Stoddart,  and 
Mr.  O'Neale,  of  Maryland,  or  any  one  of  these 
gentlemen,  from  each  State,  to  examine  the  accounts 
of  the  ensuing  year,  and  to  make  their  report  to  the 
next  annual  meeting,  which  was  ordered  to  be  held 
at  Georgetown,  on  the  3d  day  of  August,  1789. 

The  miscellaneous  business  before  the  company 
having  been  concluded,  the  chairman  notified  the 
proprietors  present,  and  the  proxies,  that  this  was 
the  day  specified  by  the  charter,  for  holding  the 
annual  election  for  President  and  Directors,  and 

8 

.  *      *  r 


114  WASHINGTON: 

requested  them  to  prepare  their  ballots ;  which  being 
cast  and  counted,  the  following  named  gentlemen 
were  found  to  be  unanimously  elected:  General 
Washington,  Thomas  Sim  Lee,  John  Fitzgerald,  and 
George  Gilpin,  Esqrs. 

For  cause  not  stated  in  the  record  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  proprietors,  or  of  the  Directors, 
no  meetings  were  held  previous  to  the  annual 
appointment  for  the  3d  day  of  March,  1789. 

On  this  day,  members  of  the  company  and  proxies, 
amounting  to  a  representation  of  one  hundred  and 
eight  shares,  attended  at  Georgetown — a  sufficient 
number  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

Robert  Peter,  Esq.,  was  unanimously  appointed 
Chairman  of  the  meeting. 

A  committee,  as  usual,  was  appointed  to  examine 
the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer,  and  report  thereon. 
The  Chairman  appointed  Robert  T.  Hooe,  George 
Digges,  and  Marisham  Waring. 

The  meeting  then  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a 
President  and  Directors.  The  following  gentlemen 
were  chosen : — 

THOMAS  JOHNSTON,  President. 

GEORGE  GILPIN,  JOHN  FITZGERALD,  THOS.  S.  LEE, 
NOTLEY  YOUNG,  Directors. 

After  the  retirement  of  General  Washington  from 
the  Presidency  of  the  company  in  1788,  the  zeal  and 
energies  of  many  of  its  proprietors  greatly  relaxed, 
and  discouragements  ensued.  The  original  cost  of 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.         115 

the  improvement,  and  the  time .  specified  for  its 
completion,  both  failing  to  be  realized,  it  was  for 
some  time  doubtful  whether  the  enterprise  would  not 
be  entirely  abandoned. 

The  result,  however,  of  discussions  on  this  subject, 
was  favorable  to  the  prosecution  of  the  improvement. 
The  original  estimate  of  the  engineers  and  mechanics 
that  were  selected  to  make  the  surveys  and  calculate 
the  cost  of  the  improvement,  the  boats,  machinery, 
&c.,  was  $250,000,  and  three  years  was  allowed  as 
the  time  for  its  expenditure,  and  for  the  completion 
of  the  navigation.  * 

But  long  before  the  expiration  of  the  time  specified 
by  the  charter,  it  was  evident,  from  the  exhausted 
condition  of  the  finances,  and  the  little  progress  that 
was  made  in  the  work,  that  more  money  and  time 
would  be  required.  Applications  were  accordingly 
presented  to  the  Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land for  an  extension  of  thr.ee  years  beyond  the 
existing  term.  The  extension  was  obtained,  yet  was 
still  insufficient. 

In  looking  over  the  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  General  Assemblies  of  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
relative  to  the  company,  it  will  be  seen  that  ten 
amendatory  acts  were  passed  at  different  periods 
between  the  sessions  of  1786,  when  the  first  appli- 
cation for  an  extension  was  granted,  and  the  year 
1820. 

Although  insufficient,  these  repeated  applications 


116  WASHINGTON: 

to  the  legislatures,  and  the  readiness  with  which  they 
were  granted,  evince  the  continued  and  unabated 
confidence  that  was  entertained  in  its  final  success, 
and  the  accomplishment  of  the  earnest  hopes  and 
expectations  of  the  proprietors. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  successful  prosecution 
of  the  construction  of  the  Great  Erie  Canal  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  attracted  attention  to  an  extra- 
ordinary degree.  That  great  work,  undertaken  by  a 
State,  unaided  by  the  general  government,  was  well 
calculated  to  attract  and  excite  the  admiration  and 
astonishment  of  the  country.  Many  proprietors  of 
the  Potomac  Company  at  length  despairing  of 
accomplishing  the  purpose  of  the  charter,  '•'•the 
improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  River ', 
from  tide-water  to  the  highest  point  practicable,  and  a 
highway  across  the  portage  to  the  waters  of  the  Ohio" 
changed  their  views  as  to  this  particular  plan,  and 
with  the  example  of  a  continuous  canal  of  365 
miles  in  length  being  undertaken  by  a  sister  State, 
to  encourage  them,  they  applied  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  to  authorize  the  Board  of 
Public  Works  to  appoint  an  engineer  "  to  examine 
the  waters  of  the  Potomac  above  the  upper  line  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  to  explore  %the  country 
between  the  Potomac  and  Ohio,  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  on  the  other, 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  and  report  upon  the  prac- 


THE  POTOMAC  COMPANY.         117 

ticability  of  affording  a  communication  by  canal 
between  these  three  rivers." 

Thus,  after  a  protracted  existence  of  thirty-six 
years,  and  an  expenditure  of  $729,380,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  the  enterprise  of  the  Potomac  Company, 
it  was  determined  to  relinquish  the  original  plan 
of  improvement,  and  adopt  another  of  a  character 
supposed  to  be  more  feasible. 

The  Board  of  Public  Works  responded  favorably 
to  the  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
commissioners  were  appointed,  the  examinations 
made,  and  their  report  was  communicated  by  the 
Governor  to  the  General  Assembly. 

The  report  affirms  the  practicability  of  the  con- 
struction of  a  continuous  canal,  and  upon  this  in- 
teresting fact  being  communicated,  the  Legislatures 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland  concurrently  appointed 
a  joint  commission  to  examine  the  affairs  of  the 
Potomac  Company,  the  state  of  the  navigation  of  the 
River  Potomac,  its  susceptibility  t)f  improvement,  and 
to  make  report  whether  the  said  company  had  com- 
plied with  its  charter  granted  by  the  two  States,  and 
its  ability  to  comply  within  a  reasonable  time ;  and 
whether  any,  or  what  aid  should  be  given  to  the  said 
company,  and  what  would  be  the  best  means  of 
effecting  an  improvement  in  the  navigation  of  the 
said  river. 

In  July,  1822,  the  commission  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  its  duties,  and  after  a  very  laborious 


118  WASHINGTON. 

investigation  of  its  affairs,  reported,  in  effect,  "  that 
the  affairs  of  the  Potomac  Company  had  failed  to 
comply  with  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  charter ; 
that  there  was  no  reasonable  ground  to  expect  that 
they  would  be  able  to  effect  the  objects  of  their 
incorporation;  that  they  had  not  only  expended 
their  capital  stock  and  the  tolls  received,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  dividend  of  five  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  on  each  share  declared  in  1802,  but  had 
incurred  a  heavy  debt  which  their  resources  would 
never  enable  them  to  discharge ;  that  the  floods  and 
freshets  nevertheless  gave  the  only  navigation  that 
was  enjoyed ;  that  the  whole  time  when  produce  and 
goods  could  be  stream  borne  on  the  Potomac  in  the 
course  of  an  entire  year,  did  not  exceed  forty-five 
days ;  that  it  would  be  imprudent  and  inexpedient 
to  give  further  aid  to  the  Potomac  Company." 

Thus  terminated  the  existence  of  this  time  honored 
enterprise,  and  from  its  termination  originated  THE 
CHESAPEAKE  AND  OIHO  CANAL  COMPANY. 


PART    III. 


WHEN  General  Washington  divested  himself  of 
the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  the  command  of 
the  army,  and  retired  from  the  public  service,  he 
engaged  extensively  in  correspondence  with  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  men  who  had  shared  with 
him  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  war,  on  the  several 
subjects  of  national  concern,  and  which  the  successful 
termination  of  the  Revolution  naturally  produced. 
These  subjects  were  canvassed  with  the  greatest 
candor  and  frankness ;  and  all  his  letters  breathe  with 

^ 

the  most  fervent  love  for  the  principles  of  good  govern- 
ment, and  the  union  of  the  States.  His  sagacious 
and  well-balanced  mind,  comprehending,  as  it  were, 
by  intuition,  the  difficulties  that  might  arise  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  confederacy,  and  in  forming  a  more  perfect 
union,  failed  not  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  internal  improvement. 
He  regarded  it  as  the  most  valuable  auxiliary  to  the 
political  bonds  which  connected  together  the  integral 


• 
...      » 

*•  • 


120  WASHINGTON: 

and  extreme  parts  of  the  whole  country,  and  in  view 
of  this  object  he  contemplated  the  consummation  of 
the  favorite  project  of  his  early  years,  with  more  than 
ordinary  interest. 

Not  long  after  his  retirement,  he  renewed,  with 
unabated  zeal  and  earnestness,  the  Potomac  enterprise, 
a  project,  though  unaccomplished,  which  unquestion- 
ably was  the  basis  and  introduction  of  that  important 
measure  of  national  policy  subsequently  adopted,  and 
styled  the  system  of  internal  improvement,  and  from 
which  the  trade  and  business  of  the  country  derived 
incalculable  benefits ;  and  to  which  the  West  particu- 
larly is  indebted  for  its  rapid  growth  in  population 
and  commercial  prosperity. 

Although  the  extracts  from  his  private  correspond- 
ence which  follow  have  not  an  exclusive  reference  to 
the  single  project  which  forms  the  basis  of  this  compi- 
lation, they  are  deemed  essential  to  the  completeness 
of  its  monographic  character,  and  add  vastly  to  its 
interest. 

One  of  the  first  letters  after  his  return  to  Mount 
Vernon  was  addressed  to  Marquis  LAFAYETTE,  dated 
1st  of  Feb.  1784.  The  style  and  language  of  this 
letter  are  characteristic  of  the  heart  and  mind  of  the 
"FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY,"  and  form  an  appropriate 

^ "  ^  *  * 

introduction  to  this  part  of  the  compilation.  It  is 
therefore  given  nearly  entire. 


AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION.  121 

At  length,  my  dear  Marquis,  I  am  become  a  private  citizen  on 
the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  under  the  shadow  of  my  own  vine 
and  fig-tree,  far  from  the  bustle  of  a  camp  and  the  busy  scenes  of 
a  public  life,  I  am  solacing  myself  with  these  tranquil  enjoyments  of 
which  the  soldier  who  is  ever  in  pursuit  of  fame ;  the  statesman 
whose  watchful  days  and  sleepless  nights  are  spent  in  devising 
schemes  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  own,  perhaps  the  ruin  of 
other  countries,  as  if  the  globe  was  insufficient  for  us  all ;  and  the 
courtier,  who  is  always  watching  the  countenance  of  his  prince,  in 
hopes  of  catching  a  gracious  smile,  can  have  very  little  conception. 
I  have  not  only  retired  from  all  public  employments,  but  I  am 
retired  within  myself,  and  shall  be  able  to  view  the  solitary  walk, 
and  tread  the  paths  of  private  life  with  a  heart-felt  satisfaction. 
Envious  of  none,  I  am  determined  to  be  pleased  with  all.  And 
this,  my  dear  friend,  being  the  order  for  my  march,  I  will  move 
gently  down  the  stream  of  life,  until  I  sleep  with  my  fathers. 


The  following  extracts  of  two  letters  are  equally 
characteristic.  The  first  letter  is  addressed  to  Major 
General  KNOX,  and  dated  the  20th  February  1784. 

I  am  just  beginning  to  experience  that  ease  and  freedom  from 
public  cares,  which,  however  desirable,  takes  some  time  to  realize ; 
for,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  it  was  not 
till  lately  I  could  get  the  better  of  my  usual  custom  of  ruminating 
as  soon  as  I  waked  in  the  morning  on  the  business  of  the  ensuing 
day ;  and  of  my  surprise  at  finding,  after  revolving  many  things  in 
my  mind,  that  I  was  no  longer  a  public  man,  nor  had  anything  to 
do  with  public  transactions. 

I  feel  now,  however,  as  I  conceive  a  wearied  traveller  must  do, 
after  treading  many  a  painful  step  with  a  heavy  burthen  on  his 


122  WASHINGTON: 

shoulders,  is  eased  of  the  latter,  having  reached  the  haven  to  which 
all  the  former  were  directed,  and  from  his  house-top  is  looking 
back,  and  tracing  with  an  eager  eye  the  meanders  by  which  he 
escaped  the  quicksands  and  mires  which  lay  in  his  way;  and  into 
which  none  but  the  all-powerful  guide  and  dispenser  of  human 
events  could  have  prevented  his  falling. 


The  other  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  to  the  Mar- 
chioness DE  LAFAYETTE,  dated  April  4th,  1784. 

Freed  from  the  clangor  of  arms  and  the  bustle  of  a  camp,  from 
the  cares  of  public  employment  and  the  responsibilities  of  office,  I 
am  now  enjoying  domestic  ease  under  the  shadow  of  my  own  vine 
and  my  own  fig-tree;  and  in  a  small  villa,  with  the  implements  of 
husbandry  and  lambkins  around  me,  I  expect  to  glide  gently  down 
the  stream  of  life,  till  I  am  entombed  in  the  mansion  of  my  fathers. 


Shortly  after  his  return  from  his  tour  to  the  West, 
in  the  autumn  of  1784,  which  was  principally  under- 
taken to  possess  himself  of  a  personal  knowledge  of 
the  character  of  the  country  lying  between  the  head- 
waters of  the  Potomac  and  the  tributaries  of  the 
Ohio  River,  and  enable  him  to  estimate  with  greater 
accuracy  the  difficulties  attending  the  construction  of 
a,  public  highway  across  the  gorge  of  the  mountain, 
he  addressed  a  long  letter  to  BENJAMIN  HARRISON, 
Governor  of  Virginia. 

This  letter  is  dated  "Mount  Vernon,  Oct.   10th, 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  123 

1784,  and  contains  such  a  series  of  interesting  facts, 
strengthening  the  propriety  of  his  suggestion,  relative 
to  the  importance  of  opening  a  communication  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  that  I  cannot  forbear  drawing 
largely  from  it — to  abridge  the  extract  would  greatly 
impair  its  perspicuity/and  comprehensiveness,  and  the 
force  with  which  the  scheme  is  recommended. 


On  my  return  from  the  western  country,  a  few  days  ago,  I  had 
the  pleasure  to  receive  your  favor  of  the  17th  ultimo.  It  has 
always  been  my  intention  to  pay  my  respects  to  you,  before  the 
chance  of  another  early  and  hard  winter  should  make  a  warm  fire- 
side too  comfortable  to  be  relinquished.  And  I  shall  feel  the 
additional  pleasure  in  offering  this  tribute  of  friendship  and  respect 
to  you,  by  having  the  company  of  the  Marquis  De  Lafayette,  when 
he  shall  have  revisited  this  place  from  his  eastern  tour,  now  every 
day  to  be  expected. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  now,  my  dear  sir,  to  suggest  a  matter 
which  would  (if  I  am  not  too  short-sighted  a  politician)  mark  your 
administration  as  an  important  era  in  the  annals  of  this  country,  if 
it  should  be  recommended  by  you  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly. 

It  has  long  been  my  decided  opinion,  that  the  shortest,  easiest, 
and  least  expensive  communication  with  the  invaluable  and  exten- 
sive country  back  of  us,  would  be  by  one  or  both  of  the  rivers  of 
this  State,  which  have  their  sources  in  the  Appalachian  Mountains. 
Nor  am  I  singular  in  this  opinion.  Evans,  in  his  map  and 
analysis  of  the  Middle  Colonies,  which,  considering  the  early 
period  at  which  they  were  given  to  the  public,  are  done  with 
amazing  exactness  ;  and  Hutchins,  since,  in  his  Topographical 
Description  of  the  Western  Country,  a  good  part  of  which  is  from 


124  WASHINGTON: 

actual  surveys,  are  decidedly  of  the  same  sentiments,  as,  indeed, 
are  all  others,  who  have  had  opportunities,  and  have  been  at  the 
pains  to  investigate  and  consider  the  subject. 

But  that  this  may  not  now  stand  as  mere  matter  of  opinion  and 
assertion,  unsupported  by  facts  (such,  at  least,  as  the  best  maps 
now  extant,  compared  with  the  oral  testimony  which  my  oppor- 
tunities in  the  course  of  the  war  have  enabled  me  to  obtain),  I 
shall  give  you  the  different  routes  and  distances  from  Detroit,  by 
which  all  the  trade  of  the  northwestern  parts  of  the  united  terri- 
tory most  pass ;  unless  the  Spaniards,  contrary  to  their  present 
policy,  should  engage  part  of  it,  or  the  British  should  attempt  to 
force  nature,  by  carrying  the  trade  of  the  upper  lakes  by  the 
River  Utawas,  into  Canada,  which  I  scarcely  think  they  will  or 
could  effect.  Taking  Detroit,  then  (which  is  putting  ourselves  in 
as  unfavorable  a  point  of  view  as  we  can  well  be  placed  in, 
because  it  is  upon  the  line  of  the  British  territory),  as  a  point  by 
which,  as  I  have  already  observed,  all  that  part  of  the  trade  must 
come,  it  appears  from  the  statement  inclosed,  that  the  tide-waters 
of  the  State  are  nearer  to  it  by  one  hundred  and  sixty -eight  miles, 
than  those  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  or  than  those  of  the  Hud- 
son at  Albany,  by  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  miles. 

Maryland  stands  upon  similar  ground  with  Virginia.  Penn- 
sylvania, although  the  Susquehanna  is  an  unfriendly  water,  much 
impeded,  it  is  said,  with  rocks  and  rapids,  and  nowhere  communi- 
cating with  those  which  lead  to  her  capital,  has  it  in  contem- 
plation to  open  a  communication  between  Toby's  Creek,  which 
empties  into  the  Alleghany  River  ninety-five  miles  above  Fort 
Pitt,  and  the  West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  to  cut  a 
canal  between  the  waters  of  the  latter  and  the  Schuylkill ;  the 
expense  of  which  is  easier  to  be  conceived  than  estimated  or 
described  by  me.  A  people,  however,  who  are.  possessed  of  the 
spirit  of  commerce,  who  see,  and  who  will  pursue  their  advantages, 
may  achieve  almost  anything.  In  the  mean  time,  under  the 
uncertainty  of  these  undertakings,  they  are  smoothing  the  roads, 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  125 

and  paving  the  ways  for  the  trade  of  the  western  world.  That 
New  York  will  do  the  same,  as  soon  as  the  British  garrisons  are 
removed,  which  are  at  present  insurmountable  obstacles  in  their 
way,  no  person  who  knows  the  temper,  genius,  and  policy  of  those 
people  as  well  as  I  do,  can  harbor  the  smallest  doubt. 

Thus  much  with  respect  to  rival  States.  Let  ine  ROW  take  a 
short  view  of  our  own ;  and,  being  aware  of  the  objections  which 
are  in  the  way,  I  will,  in  order  to  contrast  them,  enumerate  them 
with  the  advantages. 

The  first  and  principal  one  is  the  unfortunate  jealousy  which 
ever  has,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  ever  will  prevail,  lest  one  part  of 
the  State  should  obtain  an  advantage  over  the  other  parts,  as  if 
the  benefits  of  the  trade  were  not  diffusive  and  beneficial  to  all. 
Then  follows  a  train  of  difficulties,  namely,  that  our  people  are 
already  heavily  taxed  ;  that  we  have  no  money  ;  that  the  advan- 
tages of  this  trade  are  remote  ;  that  the  most  direct  route  for  it  is 
through  other  States,  over  which  we  have  no  control ;  that  the 
routes  over  which  we  have  control  are  as  distant  as  either  of  those 
which  lead  to  Philadelphia,  Albany,  or  Montreal ;  that  a  sufficient 
spirit  of  commerce  does  not  pervade  the  citizens  of  this  common- 
wealth ;  and  that  we  are,  in  fact, ,  doing  for  others  what  they 
ought  to  do  for  themselves. 

Without  going  into  the  investigation  of  a  question  which  has 
employed  the  pens  of  able  politicians,  namely,  whether  trade  with 
foreigners  is  an  advantage  or  disadvantage  to  a  country,  this  State 
is  a  part  of  the  confederated  States,  all  of  which  have  the  spirit  of 
it  very  strongly  working  within  them,  must  adopt  it,  or  submit  to 
the  evils  arising  therefrom  without  receiving  its  benefits.  Com- 
mon policy,  therefore,  points  clearly  and  strongly  to  the  propriety 
of  onr  enjoying  all  the  advantages  which  nature  and  our  local 
situation  afford  us  ;  and  evinces  clearly  that  unless  the  spirit 
could  be  totally  eradicated  in  other  States  as  well  as  in  this,  and 
every  man  be  made  to  become  either  a  cultivator  of  the  land  or  a 
manufacturer  of  such  articles  as  are  prompted  by  necessity,  such 


126  WASHINGTON: 

stimulus  should  be  employed  as  will  force  this  spirit,  by  showing 
to  our  countrymen  the  superior  advantages  we  possess  beyond 
others,  and  the  importance  of  being  upon  an  equal  footing  with 
our  neighbors. 

If  this  is  fair  reasoning,  it  ought  to  follow  as  a  consequence, 
that  we  should  do  our  part  towards  opening  the  communication 
for  the  fur  and  peltry  trade  of  the  lakes,  and  for  the  produce  of 
the  country  which  lies  within,  and  which  will,  so  soon  as  matters 
are  settled  with  the  Indians,  and  the  terms  on  which  Congress 
mean  to  dispose  of  the  land  found  to  be  favorable,  are  announced, 
be  settled  faster  than  any  other  ever  was,  or  any  one  would 
imagine.  This,  then,  when  considered  in  an  interested  point  of 
view,  is  alone  sufficient  to  excite  our  endeavors.  But  in  my 
opinion,  there  is  a  political  consideration  for  so  doing,  which  is  of 
still  greater  importance. 

I  need  not  remark  to  you,  sir,  that  the  flanks  and  rear  of  the 
United  States  are  possessed  by  other  powers,  and  formidable  ones 
too ;  nor  how  necessary  it  is  to  apply  the  cement  of  interest  to 
bind  all  parts  of  the  Union  together  by  indissoluble  bonds, 
especially  that  part  of  it  which  lies  immediately  west  of  us,  with 
the  Middle  States.  For  what  ties,  let  me  ask,  should  we  have 
upon  those  people  ?  How  entirely  unconnected  with  them  shall 
we  be,  and  what  troubles  may  we  not  apprehend,  if  the  Spaniards 
on  their  right,  and  Great  Britain  on  their  left,  instead  of  throwing 
stumbling  blocks  in  their  way,  as  they  now  do,  should  hold  out 
lures  for  their  trade  and  alliance  ?  What,  when  they  get  strength, 
which  will  be  sooner  than  most  people  conceive  (from  the  emigra- 
tion of  foreigners,  who  will  have  no  particular  predilection  towards 
us,  as  well  as  from  the  removal  of  our  own  citizens),  will  be  the 
consequence  of  their  having  formed  close  connections  with  both  or 
either  of  those  powers,  in  a  commercial  way,  it  needs  not,  in  my 
opinion,  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell. 

The  Western  States  (I  speak  now  from  my  own  observation) 
stand  as  it  were  upon  a  pivot.  The  touch  of  a  feather  would 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  127 

turn  them  any  way.  They  have  looked  down  the  Mississippi  until 
the  Spaniards,  very  impolitically,  I  think,  for  themselves,  threw 
difficulties  in  their  way  ;  and  they  looked  that  way  for  no  other 
reason  than  because  they  could  glide  gently  down  the  stream, 
without  considering,  perhaps,  the  difficulties  of  the  voyage  back 
again,  and  the  time  necessary  to  perform  it  in  ;  and  because  they 
have  no  other  means  of  coming  to  us  but  by  long  land  transpor- 
tations, and  unimproved  roads.  These  causes  have  hitherto 
checked  the  industry  of  the  present  settlers ;  for,  except  the  de- 
mand for  provisions,  occasioned  by  the  increase  of  population, 
and  a  little  flour,  which  the  necessities  of  the  Spaniards  compel 
them  to  buy,  they  have  no  incitements  to  labor.  But  smooth  the 
road,  and  make  easy  the  way  for  them,  and  then  see  what  an 
influx  of  articles  will  be  poured  upon  us ;  how  amazingly  our 
exports  will  be  increased  by  them,  and  how  amply  we  shall  be 
compensated  for  any  trouble  and  expense  we  may  encounter  to 
effect  it. 

A  combination  of  circumstances  makes  the  present  conjunction 
more  favorable  for  Virginia  than  for  any  other  State  in  the 
Union,  to  fix  these  matters.  The  jealous  and  untoward  disposition 
of  the  Spaniards,  on  one  hand,  and  the  private  views  of  some 
individuals,  coinciding  with  the  general  policy  of  the  court  of 
Great  Britain  on  the  other,  to  retain  as  long  as  possible  the  posts 
of  Detroit,  Niagara,  and  Oswego  (which,  though  done  under  the 
letter  of  the  treaty,  is  certainly  an  infraction  of  the  spirit  of  it, 
and  injurious  to  the  Union),  may  be  improved  to  the  greatest 
advantage  by  the  State,  if  she  would  open  the  avenues  to  the 
trade  of  that  country,  and  embrace  the  present  moment  to  establish 
it.  It  only  wants  a  beginning.  The  western  inhabitants  would 
do  their  part  towards  its  execution.  Weak  as  they  are,  they 
would  meet  us  at  least  half-way,  rather  than  be  driven  into  the 
arms  of  foreigners,  or  be  made  dependent  upon  them ;  which 
would  eventually  either  bring  on  a  separation  of  them  from  us,  or 


128  WASHINGTON: 

a  war  between  the  United  States  and  one  or  the  other  of  those 
powers,  most  probably  with  the  Spaniards. 

The  preliminary  steps  to  the  attainment  of  this  great  object 
would  be  attended  with  very  little  expense,  and  might,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  served  to  attract  the  attention  of  tlie  western 
country,  and  convince  the  wavering  inhabitants  of  our  disposition 
to  connect  ourselves  with  them,  and  facilitate  their  commerce  with 
us,  be  a  means  of  removing  those  jealousies  which  otherwise  might 
take  place  among  ourselves. 

These,  in  my  opinion,  are  to  appoint  commissioners,  who,  from 
their  situation,  integrity,  and  abilities,  can  be  under  no  suspicion 
of  prejudice  or  predilection  to  one  part  more  than  to  another. 
Let  these  commissioners  make  an  actual  survey  of  James  River 
and  the  Potomac  from  tide-water  to  their  respective  sources ;  note 
with  great  accuracy  the  kind  of  navigation,  and  the  obstructions, 
the  distances  from  place  to  place,  through  their  whole  extent,  and 
the  nearest  and  best  portage  between  these  waters,  and  the  streams 
capable  of  improvement,  which  run  into  the  Ohio  ;  traverse  these  . 
in  like  manner  to  their  junction  with  the  Ohio,  and  with  equal 
accuracy.  The  navigation  of  the  Ohio  being  well  known,  they 
will  have  less  to  do  in  the  examination  of  it ;  but  nevertheless,  let 
the  sources  and  distances  be  taken  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskin- 
gum,  and  up  that  river  (notwithstanding  it  is  in  the  ceded  lands) 
to  the  carrying  place  to  the  Cayahoga ;  down  the  Cayahoga  to 
Lake  Erie ;  and  thence  to  Detroit.  Let  them  do  the  same  with 
Big  Beaver  Creek ;  although  part  of  it  is  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; and  also  with  the  Scioto.  In  a  word,  let  the  waters  east 
and  west  of  the  Ohio,  which  invite  our  notice  by  their  proximity 
and  by  the  ease  with  which  land  transportation  may  be  had  be- 
tween them  and  the  Lakes,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Rivers  Poto- 
mac and  James  on  the  other,  be  explored,  accurately  delineated, 
and  a  correct  and  connected  map  of  the  whole  be  presented  to  the 
public.  These  things  being  done,  I  shall  be  mistaken  if  prejudice 
does  not  yield  to  facts,  jealousy  to  candor,  and,  finally,  if  reason 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  129 

and  nature,  thus  aided,  do  not  dictate  what  is  right  and  proper  to 
be  done. 

In  the  meanwhile,  if  it  should  be  thought  that  the  lapse  of  time, 
which  is  necessary  to  effect  this  work,  may  be  attended  with  inju- 
rious consequences,  could  not  there  be  a  sum  of  money  granted 
towards  opening  the  best,  or,  if  it  should  be  deemed  more  eligible, 
two  of  the  nearest  communications  (one  to  the  northward,  and  an- 
other to  the  southward),  with  the  settlements  to  the  westward,  and 
an  act  be  passed,  if  there  should  not  appear  a  manifest  disposition 
in  the  Assembly  to  make  it  a  public  undertaking,  to  incorporate 
and  encourage  private  adventurers,  if  any  should  associate  and 
solicit  the  same,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  navigation  of 
the  Potomac  or  James  River ;  and,  in  the  former  case,  to  request 
the  concurrence  of  Maryland  in  the  measure  ?  It  will  appear  from 
my  statement  of  the  different  routes  (and,  as  far  as  my  means  of 
information  have  extended,  I  have  done  it  with  the  utmost  candor), 
that  all  the  produce  of  the  settlements  about  Fort  Pitt  can  be 
brought  to  Alexandria  by  the  Youghiogheny  in  three  hundred  and 
four  miles,  whereof  only  thirty-one  are  land  transportation ;  and 
by  the  Monongahela  and  Cheat  Rivers  in  three  hundred  and  sixty 
miles,  twenty  of  which  only  are  land  carriage.  Whereas,  the  com- 
mon road  from  Fort  Pitt  to  Philadelphia  is  three  hundred  and 
twenty  miles,  all  land  transportation  ;  or  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  miles,  if  the  Ohio,  Toby's  Creek,  Susquehanna  and  Schuylkill, 
are  made  use  of  for  this  purpose.  How  much  of  this  is  by  land,  I 
know  not ;  but,  from  the  nature  of  the  country,  it  must  be  very 
considerable.  How  much  the  interest  and  the  feelings  of  people 
thus  circumstanced  would  be  engaged  to  promote  it,  requires  no 
illustration. 

For  my  own  part,  I  think  it  highly  probable,  that  upon  the 
strictest  scrutiny,  if  the  Falls  of  the  Great  Kenawha  can  be  made 
navigable,  or  a  short  portage  be  had  there,  it  will  be  found  of 
equal  importance  and  convenience  to  improve  the  navigation  of 
both  the  James  and  Potomac.  The  latter,  I  am  fully  persuaded, 
9 


130  WASHINGTON: 

affords  the  nearest  communication  with  the  Lakes ;  but  James 
River  may  be  more  convenient  for  all  the  settlers  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Kenawha,  and  for  some  distance  perhaps  above  and 
west  of  it ;  for  I  have  no  expectation,  that  any  part  of  the  trade 
above  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  will  go  down  that  river  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi, much  less  that  the  returns  will  ever  come  up  them ;  or, 
upon  trial,  if  it  should  be  found  that  these  rivers,  from  the  before- 
mentioned  Falls,  will  admit  the  descent  of  sea-vessels,  in  that  case, 
and  the  navigation  of  the  former  becoming  free,  it  is  probable  that 
both  vessels  and  cargoes  will  be  carried  to  foreign  markets  and 
sold ;  but  the  returns  for  them  will  never,  in  the  natural  course  of 
things,  ascend  the  long  and  rapid  current  of  that  river,  which,  with 
the  Ohio  to  the  Falls,  in  their  meanderings,  is  little,  if  any,  short 
of  two  thousand  miles.  Upon  the  whole,  the  object  in  my  estima- 
tion is  of  vast  commercial  and  political  importance.  In  this  light 
I  think  they  will  consider  it,  and  regret  if  our  conduct  should  give 
them  cause  that  the  present  favorable  moment  to  secure  so  great 
a  blessing  for  them  was  neglected. 

One  thing  more  remains,  which  I  had  like  to  have  forgotten, 
and  that  is,  the  supposed  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  passage  through 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  How  an  application  to  its  legislature 
would  be  relished,  in  the  first  instance,  I  will  not  undertake  to 
decide ;  but  of  one  thing  I  am  almost  certain,  such  an  application 
would  place  that  body  in  a  very  delicate  situation.  There  are  in 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  souls 
west  of  the  Laurel  Hill,  who  are  groaning  under  the  inconveni- 
ences of  a  long  land  transportation.  They  are  wishing,  indeed 
they  are  looking  for  the  improvement  and  extension  of  inland 
navigation ;  and,  if  this  cannot  be  made  easy  for  them  to  Phila- 
delphia (at  any  rate  it  must  be  long),  they  will  seek  a  mart  else- 
where ;  the  consequence  of  which  would  be,  that  the  State,  though 
contrary  to  the  interests  of  its  seaports,  must  submit  to  the  loss 
of  so  much  of  its  trade,  or  hazard  not  only  the  loss  of  the  trade 
but  the  loss  of  the  settlement  also  ;  for  an  opposition  on  the  part 


AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION.  131 

of  government  to  the  extension  of  water  transportation  so  conso- 
nant with  the  essential  interests  of  a  large  body  of  people,  or  any 
extraordinary  impositions  upon  the  exports  or  imports  to  or  from 
another  State,  would  ultimately  bring  on  a  separation  between  its 
eastern  and  western  settlements  ;  towards  which  there  is  not  want- 
ing a  disposition  at  this  moment  in  that  part  of  it  beyond  the 
mountains.  I  consider  Rumsey's  discovery  for  working  boats 
against  the  stream,  by  mechanical  power  principally,  as  not  only  a 
very  fortunate  invention  for  these  States,  in  general,  but  as  one  of 
those  circumstances  which  have  combined  to  render  the  present 
time  favorable  above  all  others  for  fixing,  if  we  are  disposed  to 
avail  ourselves  of  them,  a  large  portion  of  the  trade  of  the  western 
country  in  the  bosom  of  this  State  irrevocably. 

Long  as  this  letter  is,  I  intended  to  have  written  a  fuller  and 
more  digested  one,  upon  this  important  subject;  but  have  met 
with  so  many  interruptions  since  my  return  home,  as  almost  to 
have  precluded  my  writing  at  all.  What  I  now  give  is  crude;  but 
if  you  are  in  sentiment  with  me,  I  have  said  enough ;  if  there  is 
not  an  accordance  of  opinion,  I  have  said  too  much  ;  and  all  I 
pray  in  the  latter  case  is,  that  you  will  do  me  the  justice  to  be- 
lieve my  motives  are  pure,  however  erroneous  my  judgment  may 
be  in  this  matter,  and  that  I  am  with  the  most  perfect  esteem  and 
friendship, 

Sir,  yours,  &c. 

~#. .          '      A 
. 

Not  long  after  the  memorials  for  the  connection 
between  the  eastern  and  western  sides  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  were  presented  to  the  Legisla- 
tures of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  General  Washington 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  bring  the  subject,  in  a 
national  form,  before  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  President  of  that 


132  WASHINGTON: 

body.  As  preliminary  to  the  adoption  of  any  definite 
measures,  looking  directly  to  this  union,  by  an 
internal  communication,  he  earnestly  invoked  the 
wisdom  and  attention  of  Congress,  to  provide  the 
means  for  an  accurate  survey  of  the  western  country 
between  specified  limits ;  and  upon  the  result  of  this 
survey  depended  a  more  particular  recommendation 
of  his  object  to  its  favor  and  support.  His  letter  to 
Mr.  Lee,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  taken, 
is  dated — 


V 

MOUNT  VEBNOX,  December  14,  1784. 

The  Assemblies  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  have  now  under 
consideration  the  extension  of  the  inland  navigation  of  the  Rivers 
Potomac  and  James,  and  opening  a  communication  between  them 
and  the  western  waters.  They  seem  fully  impressed  with  the 
political,  as  well  as  the  commercial  advantages,  which  would  result 
from  the  accomplishment  of  these  great  objects ;  and  I  hope  will 
embrace  the  present  moment  to  put  them  in  a  train  for  execution. 
Would  it  not,  at  the  same  time,  be  worthy  of  the  wisdom  and 
attention  of  Congress,  to  have  the  western  waters  well  explored, 
the  navigation  of  them  fully  ascertained,  accurately  laid  down,  and 
a  complete  and  perfect  map  made  of  the  country ;  at  least  as  far 
westwardly  as  the  Miamies,  running  into  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie, 
and  to  see  how  the  waters  of  these  communicate  with  the  River 
St.  Joseph,  which  empties  into  the  Lake  Michigan,  and  with  the 
Wabash?  For  I  cannot  forbear  observing  that  the  Miami  Tillage, 
in  Hutchins'  map,  if  it  and  the  waters  are  laid  down  with  accuracy, 
points  to  a  very  important  post  for  the  Union.  The  expense 
attending  such  an  undertaking  could  not  be  great;  the  advantages 
would  be  unbounded ;  for  sure  I  am,  nature  has  made  such  a 

•t 

* 

*'        **> 
I 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  133 

display  of  her  bounties  in  those  regions,  that  the  more  the  conntry 
is  explored  the  more  it  will  rise  in  estimation,  consequently  the 
greater  will  the  revenue  be  to  the  Union. 


The  project  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Potomac  River  had  for  some  time  attracted  attention 
both  in  Virginia  and  Maryland ;  and  many  of  their 
most  prominent  citizens  were  earnestly  engaged  in 
advancing  the  interests  of  the  enterprise.  The  only 
difficulty  which  seemed  to  present  itself  in  its 
accomplishment,  was  the  arrangement  of  details,  to 
render  it  mutually  satisfactory  and  advantageous  to 
the  parties — two  sovereign  and  independent  States. 
Their  respective  legislatures  had  already  sufficiently 
responded  to  the  public  sentiment,  to  indicate  the 
character  of  their  future  action,  whenever  the  scheme 
would  be  formally  submitted  to  them ;  and  to  settle 
the  preliminaries  on  just  and  equitable  principles. 
General  Gates  and  General  Washington  were 
requested,  on  the  part  of  Virginia,  to  visit  Annapolis 
on  a  mission  of  consultation  on  the  subject  with  the 
proper  authorities  of  Maryland. 

Immediately  on  their  arrival  in  the  ancient 
metropolis  of  Maryland,  General  Washington  wrote 
to  Marquis  De  Lafayette  as  follows :  — 

I  am  here  with  General  Gates,  at  the  request  of  the  Assembly 
of  Virginia,  to  fix  matters  with  the  Assembly  of  this  State, 


134  WASHINGTON: 

respecting  the  extension  of  the  inland  navigation  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  communication  between  it  and  the  western  waters ;  and  I 
hope  a  plan  will  be  agreed  upon,  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  both 
States,  and  to  the  advantage  of  the  Union  at  large. 


The  Legislature  of  Virginia  manifested  their 
appreciation  of  the  great  public  services  of  General 
Washington,  by  the  unanimous  passage  of  an  act  of 
donation,  vesting  in  him  the  exclusive  interest  in  one 
hundred  and  fifty  shares  in  the  Potomac  and  James 
Rivers  Navigation  Companies.  This  act  of  gratitude 
expressed  the  universal  sentiment  of  the  people  of 
the  State,  and  placed  upon  these  two  enterprises  the 
seal  of  confidence,  not  only  in  their  practicability, 
but,  when  accomplished,  as  sources  of  revenue. 

In  reply  to  the  letter  from  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  gracefully  declining  the  acceptance  of  the 
proffered  gift,  General  WASHINGTON  remarks: — 

*  _ 

It  is  not  for  me  to  decide  by  which  my  mind  was  most  affected, 
upon  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  5th  inst.  (January,  1785), 
surprise  or  gratitude.  Both  were  greater  than  I  have  words  to 
express.  The  attention  and  good  wishes,  which  the  Assembly 
have  evidenced  by  their  act  for  vesting  in  me  one  hundred  and 
fifty  shares  in  the  navigation  of  the  Rivers  Potomac  and  James, 
are  more  than  mere  compliment.  There  is  an  unequivocal  and 
substantial  meaning  annexed.  But  believe  me,  sir,  notwithstanding 
this,  no  circumstance  has  happened  to  me  since  I  left  the  walks  of 
public  life,  which  has  so  much  embarrassed  me.  On  the  one  hand, 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  135 

I  consider  this  act,  as  I  have  already  observed,  as  a  noble  and 
unequivocal  proof  of  the  good  opinion,  the  affection,  and  disposi- 
tion of  my  country  to  serve  me;  and  I  should  be  hurt,  if,  by 
declining  the  acceptance  of  it,  my  refusal  should  be  construed  into 
disrespect,  or  the  smallest  slight  upon  the  generous  intention  of 
the  country  ;  or  it  should  be  thought  that  an  ostentatious  display 
of  disinterestedness,  or  public  virtue,  was  the  source  of  refusal. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  really  my  wish  to  have  my  mind,  and  my 
actions,  which  are  the  result  of  reflection,  as  free  and  independent 
as  the  air ;  that  I  may  be  more  at  liberty  (in  things  which  my 
opportunities  and  experience  have  brought  me  to  the  knowledge 
of)  to  express  my  sentiments,  and,  if  necessary,  to  suggest  what 
may  occur  to  me  under  the  fullest  conviction,  that,  although  my 
judgment  may  be  arraigned,  there  may  be  no  suspicion  that  sinister 
motives  had  the  smallest  influence  in  the  suggestion.  Not  content, 
then,  with  the  bare  consciousness  of  my  having,  in  all  this 
navigation  business,  acted  upon  the  clearest  conviction  of  the 
political  importance  of  the  measure,  I  would  wish  that  every 
individual  who  may  hear  that  it  was  a  favorite  plan  of  mine,  may 
know,  also,  that  I  had  no  other  motive  for  promoting  it,  than  the 
advantage  of  which  I  conceived  it  would  be  productive  to  the 
Union,  and  to  this  State  in  particular,  by  cementing  the  eastern 
and  western  territory  together ;  at  the  same  time  that  it  will  give 
vigor  and  increase  to  our  commerce,  and  be  a  convenience  to  our 
citizens. 

How  would  this  matter  be  viewed,  then,  by  the  eye  of  the  world, 
and  what  would  be  the  opinion  of  it,  when  it  comes  to  be  related, 
that  George  Washington  has  received  twenty  thousand  dollars  and 
five  thousand  pounds  sterling  of  the  public  money  as  an  interest 
therein !  Would  not  this,  in  the  estimation  of  it  (if  I  am  entitled 
to  any  merit  for  the  part  I  have  acted,  and  without  it  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  act),  deprive  me  of  the  principal  thing  which  is 
laudable  in  my  conduct  ?  Would  it  not,  in  some  respects,  be  con- 
sidered in  the  same  light  as  a  pension  ?  And  would  not  the  appre- 


136  WASHINGTON: 

hension  of  this  make  me  more  reluctantly  offer  my  sentiments  in 
future  ?  In  a  word,  under  whatever  pretence,  and  however  cus- 
tomarily these  gratuitous  gifts  are  made  in  other  countries,  should 
I  not  thenceforward  be  considered  as  a  dependent  ?  one  moment's 
thought  of  which  would  give  me  more  pain  than  I  should  receive 
pleasure  from  the  product  of  all  the  tolls,  were  every  farthing  of 
them  vested  in  me,  although  I  consider  it  as  one  of  the  most  cer- 
tain and  increasing  estates  in  the  country. 

I  have  written  to  you  with  an  openness  becoming  our  friend- 
ship. I  could  have  said  more  on  the  subject,  but  I  have  already 
said  enough  to  let  you  into  the  state  of  my  mind.  I  wish  to  know 
whether  the  ideas  I  entertain  occurred  to,  and  were  expressed  by, 
any  member  in  or  out  of  the  House.  Upon  the  whole  you  may  be 
assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  my  mind  is  not  a  little  agitated.  I  want 
the  best  information  and  advice  to  settle  it.  I  have  no  inclination, 
as  I  have  already  observed,  to  avail  myself  of  the  generosity  of  the 
country ;  nor  do  I  wish  to  appear  ostentatiously  disinterested  (for 
more  than  probably  my  refusal  would  be  ascribed  to  this  motive)  ; 
nor  that  the  country  should  harbor  an  idea  that  I  am  disposed  to 
set  little  value  on  her  favors,  the  manner  of  granting  which  is  as 
flattering  as  the  grant  is  important.  My  present  difficulties,  how- 
ever, shall  be  no  impediment  to  the  progress  of  the  undertaking.  I 
will  receive  the  full  and  frank  opinions  of  my  friends  with  thank- 
fulness. I  shall  have  time  enough  between  the  sitting  of  the  next 
Assembly  to  consider  the  tendency  of  the  act;  and  in  this,  as  in  all 
other  matters,  will  endeavor  to  decide  for  the  best. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   LETTER   TO   RICHARD   HENRY   LEE, 
PRESIDENT   OF   CONGRESS. 

MOUNT  VERXON,  February  8,  1785. 

Since  my  last,  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  favors  of  the 
26th  of  December  and  16th  of  January.     I  have  now  the  pleasure 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  137 

to  inform  you  that  the  Assemblies  of  Virginia  and  Maryland 
have  enacted  laws,  of  which  the  inclosed  is  a  copy.  They  are 
exactly  similar  in  both  States.  At  the  same  time,  and  at  the  joint 
and  equal  expense  of  the  two  governments,  the  sum  of  six  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  two-thirds  is  voted  for 
opening  and  keeping  in  repair  a  road  from  the  highest  practicable 
navigation  of  this  river  to  that  of  the  River  Cheat,  or  Mononga- 
hela,  as  commissioners,  who  are  appointed  to  survey  and  lay  out 
the  same,  shall  find  most  convenient  and  beneficial  to  the  western 
settlers  ;  and  they  have  concurred  in  an  application  to  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  for  permission  to  open  another  road  from  Fort  Cum- 
berland to  the  Youghiogheny,  at  the  Three  Forks,  or  Turkey  Foot. 
A  similar  bill  to  the  one  inclosed  is  passed  by  our  Assembly 
respecting  the  navigation  of  James  River,  and  the  communication 
between  it  and  the  waters  of  the  Great  Kenawha.  And  the  Execu- 
tive has  been  authorized,  by  a  resolve  of  the  Assembly,  to  ap- 
point commissioners  to  examine  and  report  the  most  convenient 
course  for  a  canal  between  Elizabeth  River  and  the  waters  of  the 
Roanoke,  with  an  estimate  of  the  expense  ;  and  if  the  last  com- 
munication shall  be  found  to  require  the  concurrence  of  North 
Carolina,  to  make  application  to  the  legislature  thereof  accord- 
ingly. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A  LETTER  TO  DAVID   HUMtHREUS. 

MOUNT  VEKNON,  July  25,  1785. 

My  attention  is  more  immediately  engaged  in  a  project,  which 
I  think  big  with  great  political,  as  well  as  commercial,  advantages 
to  the  States,  especially  the  middle  ones  ;  it  is  by  removing  the 
obstructions  and  extending  the  inland  navigation  of  our  rivers,  to 
bring  the  States  on  the  Atlantic  in  close  connection  with  those 
forming  to  the  westward,  by  a  short  and  easy  transportation. 


* 

*.*>  •*• 


138  WASHINGTON: 

Without  this,  I  can  easily  conceive  they  will  have  different  views, 
separate  interests,  and  other  connections.  I  may  be  singular  in 
my  ideas,  but  they  are  these :  that,  to  open  a  door  to,  and  make 
easy  the  way  for,  those  settlers  to  the  westward  (who  ought  to 
advance  regularly  and  compactly)  before  we  make  any  stir  about 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  before  our  settlements  are 
far  advanced  towards  that  river,  would  be  our  true  line  of  policy. 
It  can,  I  think,  be  demonstrated  that  the  produce  of  the  western 
territory  (if  the  navigations  which  are  in  hand  succeed,  of  which  I 
have  ao  doubt),  as  low  down  the  Ohio  as  the  Great  Kenawha,  and 
I  believe  to  the  Falls,  and  between  the  ports  above  the  lakes,  may 
be  brought  either  to  the  highest  shipping  port  on  the  Potomac  or 
James  Rivers,  at  a  less  expense,  with  more  ease,  including  the 
return,  and  in  a  much  shorter  time,  than  it  can  be  carried  to  New 
Orleans,  if  the  Spaniards,  instead  of  restrictions,  were  to  throw 
open  their  ports  and  invite  our  trade.  But  if  the  commerce  of  that 
country  should  embrace  this  channel,  and  connections  be  formed, 
experience  has  taught  us,  and  there  is  a  very  recent  proof  with 
Great  Britain,  how  next  to  impracticable  it  is  to  divert  it ;  and,  if 
that  should  be  the  case,  the  Atlantic  States,  especially  as  those  to 
the  westward  will  in  a  great  degree  be  filled  with  foreigners,  will 
be  no  more  to  the  present  Union,  except  to  excite  perhaps  very 
justly  our  fears,  than  the  country  of  California  is,  which  is  still 
more  to  the  westward,  and  belonging  to  another  power. 

'"  J..v 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  General  Wash- 
ington's interesting  letter  to  Edmund  Randolph, 
dated  Mount  Vernon,  July  30th,  1785,  relative  to  his 
disposition  of  the  donation  from  the  State  of  Virginia. 
It  is  an  additional  evidence  of  the  high  value  he 
placed  upon  that  interest,  and  the  importance  with 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  139 

which  he  regarded  the   improvements    to  which  it 
refers. 


Although  it  is  not  my  intention  to  derive  any  pecuniary 
advantage  from  the  generous  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  this  State,  in 
consequence  of  its  gratuitous  gift  of  shares  in  the  navigation  of 
each  of  the  Rivers  Potomac  and  James ;  yet,  as  I  consider  these 
undertakings  of  vast  political  and  commercial  importance  to  the 
States  of  the  Atlantic,  especially  to  those  nearest  the  centre  of  the 
Union,  and  adjoining  the  western  territory,  I  can  let  no  act  of  mine 
impede  the  progress  of  the  work.  I  have  therefore  come  to  the 
determination  to  hold  the  shares,  which  the  Treasurer  was  directed 
to  subscribe  for  on  my  account,  in  trust  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  public  ;  unless  I  should  be  able  to  discover,  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Assembly,  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  it  to  have  the 
product  of  the  tolls  arising  from  these  shares  applied  as  a  fund  in 
which  to  establish  two  charity  schools,  one  on  each  river,  for  the 
education  and  support  of  the  children  of  the  poor  in  this  country, 
particularly  the  children  of  those  men  of  this  description,  who  have 
fallen  in  the  defence  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  it.  If  the  plan 
succeeds,  of  which  I  have  no  doubt,  I  am  sure  it  will  be  a  very 
productive  and  increasing  fund,  and  the  moneys  thus  applied  will 
be  a  beneficial  institution. 

I  am  aware  that  my  non-acceptance  of  these  shares  will  have 
various  motives  ascribed  to  it,  among  which  an  ostentatious  display 
of  disinterestedness,  perhaps  the  charge  of  disrespect  or  slight  of 
the  favors  of  my  country,  may  lead  the  van  ;  but  under  a  con- 
sciousness that  my  conduct  herein  is  not  influenced  by  considera- 
tions of  this  nature,  and  that  I  shall  act  more  agreeably  to  my  own 
feelings,  and  more  consistently  with  my  early  declarations,  by 
declining  to  accept  them,  I  shall  not  only  hope  for  indulgence,  but 
a  favorable  interpretation  of  my  conduct.  My  friends,  I  persuade 
myself,  will  acquit  me,  the  world,  I  hope,  will  judge  charitably. 


140  WASHINGTON: 

Previous  to  the  advertisements  of  Messrs.  Cabell,  Buchanan, 
and  Southall,  that  half  the  sum  required  by  the  act  for  opening 
and  extending  the  navigation  of  James  River,  is  subscribed,  and 
the  20th  of  next  month  appointed  for  the  subscribers  to  meet  at 
Richmond,  I  take  the  liberty  of  giving  you  a  power  to  act  for  me 
on  that  occasion.  I  would  (having  the  accomplishment  of  this 
navigation  much  at  heart)  have  attended  in  person,  but  the 
President  and  Directors  of  .the  Potomac  Company,  by  their  own 
appointment,  are  to  commence  the  survey  of  this  river  in  the  early 
part  of  next  month  ;  for  which  purpose  I  shall  leave  home  to- 
morrow. 


EXTRACT   OF   A   LETTER   TO   RICHARD   HENRY   LEE, 
PRESIDENT   OF   CONGRESS. 

^  *.      •» 

9 

MOUNT  VERNON,  August  22,  1785. 

In  my  absence  with  the  Directors  of  the  Potomac  navigation,  to 
examine  the  river,  and  fix  a  plan  of  operations,  your  favor,  begun 
on  the  23d,  and  ended  on  the  31st  of  July,  came  to  this  place.  I 
am  sorry  to  hear  of  your  late  indisposition,  but  congratulate  you 
on  your  recovery,  hoping  the  re-establishment  of  your  health  may 
be  of  long  continuance. 

******* 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  minister  at  the  Court  of  London  will 
bring  that  government  to  an  explanation  respecting  the  western 
posts  which  it  still  retains  on  the  American  side  of  the  line, 
contrary  to  the  spirit,  if  not  to  the  letter  of  the.  treaty.  My 
opinion  from  the  first,  and  so  I  declared  it,  was,  that  these  posts 
would  be  detained  from  us  as  long  as  they  could  be  held  under 
any  pretence  whatsoever.  I  have  not  changed  it,  though  I  wish  for 
cause  to  do  so,  as  it  may  become  a  serious  matter.  However 
singular  the  opinion  may  be,  I  cannot  divest  myself  of  it,  that  the 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  141 

- 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  at  this  time  ought  to  be  no  object 

with  us.  On  the  contrary,  until  we  have  a  little  time  allowed  to 
open  and  make  easy  the  way  between  the  Atlantic  States  and  the 
western  territory,  the  obstructions  had  better  remain.  There  is 

nothing  which  binds  one  country  or  one  State  to  another  but 

interest.  With  all  this  cement,  the  western  inhabitants,  who 
more  than  probably  will  be  composed  in  a  great  degree  of 
foreigners,  can  have  no  predilection  for  us,  and  a  commercial 
connection  is  the  only  tie  we  can  have  upon  them.  It  is  clear  to 
me  that  the  trade  of  the  lakes,  and  of  the  River  Ohio,  as  low  as  the 
Great  Kenawha,  if  not  to  the  Falls,  may  be  brought  to  the 
Atlantic  ports  easier  and  cheaper,  taking  the  whole  voyage 
together,  than  it  can  be  carried  to  New  Orleans  ;  but,  once  open 
the  door  to  the  latter  before  the  obstructions  are  removed  from 
the  former,  let  commercial  connections,  which  lead  to  others,  be 
formed,  and  the  habit  of  that  trade  be  well  established,  and  it  will 
be  found  to  be  no  easy  matter  to  divert  it ;  and  vice  versa.  When 
the  settlements  are  stronger  and  more  extended  to  the  westward, 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  will  be  an  object  of  importance, 
and  we  shall  then  be  able  to  speak  a  more  efficacious  language, 
than  policy,  I  think,  dictates  at  present. 


* 

ft- 


EXTEACT   FROM  A  LETTER   TO   WILLIAM  GRAYSON, 
MEMBER   OF   CONGRESS. 


MOUNT  VEKNON,  August  22, 1785. 

During  my  tour  up  the  Potomac  River,  with  the  Directors,  to 
examine  and  to  form  a  plan  for  opening  and  extending  the  navi- 
gation of  it,  agreeably  to  the  Acts  of  Virginia  and  Maryland 
Assemblies,  your  favor  of  the  25th  came  to  this  place. 

******* 

We  have  got  the  Potomac  navigation  in  hand.     Workmen  are 


,<'**<„ 


142  WASHINGTON: 

t  '    **  * 

employed,  under  the  best  manager  and  assistants  we  could  obtain, 
at  the  Falls  of  Shenandoah  and, Seneca;  and  I  am  happy  to  in- 
form you,  that  upon  a  critical  examination  of  them  by  the 
directors,  the  manager,  and  myself,  we  are  unanimously  of  opinion 
that  the  difficulties  at  these  two  places  do  not  exceed  the  expecta- 
tions we  had  formed  of  them ;  and  that  the  navigation  through 
them  might  be  effected  without  the  aid  of  locks.  How  far  we 
may  have  been  deceived  with  respect  to  the  first,  as  the  water, 
though  low,  may  yet  fall,  I  shall  not  decide ;  but  we  are  not  mis- 
taken, I  think,  in  our  conjecture  of  the  other. 

* 

• 
•   , 

EXTRACT   FROM  A  LETTER  TO  ARTHUR  ST.  CLAIR. 

» 

MOUNT  VERNON,  August  31, 1785. 

Your  favor  of  the  21st  ult.,  inclosing  a  letter  written  in 
behalf  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  9th  of  July,  in  the  preceding  year,  came  to  this  place 
in  my  absence  on  a  tour  up  the  River  Potomac. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

«  *  •  . 

MOUNT  VERNON,  September  26,  1785. 

I  am  very  happy  to  find  that  your  sentiments  respecting  the 
interest  the  Assembly  was  pleased  to  give  me  in  the  navigation  of 
the  Potomac  and  James  Rivers,  coincide  with  my  own.  I  never 
for  a  moment  entertained  an  idea  of  accepting  it.  The  difficulty 
with  which  my  mind  labored  was  how  to  refuse  without  giving 
offence.  Ultimately  I  have  it  in  contemplation  to  apply  the 

Jw\-        _<k* 

profits  arising  from  the  tolls  to  some  public  use.      In  this,  if  I 
knew  how,  I  would  meet  the  wishes  of  the  Assembly  ;  but  if  I  am 


AFTER    THE   REVOLUTION.  ..  4     143 

4  .  :/**•  *--,jj. 

not  able  to  come  at  these,  my  own  inclination  leads  me  to  apply 
them  to  the  establishment  of  two  charity  schools,  one  on  each 
river,  for  the  education  and  support  of  poor  children,  especially 
the  descendants  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  defence  of  their 
country. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A  LETTER  TO  PATRICK  HENRY, 
GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA. 

MOPNT  VEENON,  October,  29,  1785. 

Your  excellency  having  been  pleased  to  transmit  to  me  a  copy 
of  the  act  appropriating  for  my  benefit  certain  shares  in  the 
companies  for  opening  the  navigation  of  James  and  Potomac 
Rivers,  I  take  the  liberty  of  returning  to  the  General  Assembly, 
through  your  hands,  the  profound  and  grateful  acknowledgments 
inspired  by  so  signal  a  mark  of  their  beneficent  intentions  towards 
me.  I  beg  you,  sir,  to  assure  them,  that  I  am  filled  on  this  occa- 
sion, with  every  sentiment  which  can  flow  from  a  heart  warm  with 
love  for  my  country,  sensible  to  every  token  of  its  approbation 
and  affection,  and  solicitous  to  testify  in  every  instance  a  respect- 
ful submission  to  its  wishes. 

With  these  sentiments  in  my  bosom,  I  need  not  dwell  on  the 
anxiety  I  feel  in  being  obliged,  in  this  instance,  to  decline  a  favor 
which  is  rendered  no  less  flattering  by  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
conveyed,  than  it  is  affectionate  in  itself.  In  explaining  this 
observation,  I  pass  over  a  comparison  of  my  endeavors  in  the 
public  service,  with  the  many  honorable  testimonials  of  approbation 
which  have  already  so  far  overrated  and  overpaid  them,  reciting 
one  consideration  only,  which  supersedes  the  necessity  of  recur- 
ring to  any  other. 

When  I  was  first  called  to  the  station  with  which  I  was  honored 
during  the  late  conflict  for  our  liberties,  to  the  diffidence  which  I 


.*  ' 


144  WASHINGTON: 

had  so  'many  reasons  to  feel  in  accepting  it,  I  thought  it  ray  duty 
to  join  a  firm  resolution  to  shut  my  hand  against  every  pecu- 
niary recompense.  To  this  resolution  I  have  invariably  adhered, 
and  from  it,  if  I  had  the  inclination,  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty 
now 'to  depart. 

Whilst  I  repeat,  therefore,  my  fervent  acknowledgments  to  the 
legislature,  for  their  very  kind  sentiments  and  intentions  in  my 
favor,  and  at  the  same  time  beg  them  to  be  persuaded  that  a 
remembrance-  of  this  singular  proof  of  their  goodness  towards 
me  will  never  cease  to  cherish  returns  of  the  warmest  affection 
and  gratitude,  I  must  pray  that  their  act,  so  far  as  it  has  for  its 
object  my  personal  emolument,  may  not  have  its  effect.  But  if  it 
should  please  the  General  Assembly  to  permit  me  to  turn  the  des- 
tination of  the  fund  vested  in  me,  from  my  private  emolument,  to 
objects  of  a  public  nature,  it  will  be  my  study  in  selecting  these, 
to  prove  the  sincerity  of  my  gratitude  for  the  honor  conferred  on 
me,  by  proposing  such  as  may  appear  most  subservient  to  the 
enlightened  and  patriotic  views  of  the  legislature. 

*'* 

• 

• 

»  * 

EXTRACT   FROM  A  LETTER  TO   HENRY  LEE,   IN   CONGRESS. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  June  18,  1786. 

».~ 

The  advantages  with  which  the  inland  navigation  of  the  Rivers 
Potomac  and  James,  are  pregnant,  must  strike  every  mind  that 
reasons  upon  the  subject ;  but  there  is,  I  perceive,  a  diversity  of 
sentiment  respecting  the  benefits  and  the  consequences  which 
may  flow  from  the  free  and  immediate  use  of  the  Mississippi. 
My  opinion  of  this  matter  has  been  uniformly  the  same,  and  no 
light  in  which  I  have  been  able  to  consider  the  subject  is  likely  to 
change  it.  It  is,  neither  to  relinquish  nor  to  push  our  claims  to 
this  navigation,  but  in  the  meanwhile  to  open  all  the  communica- 
tions which  nature  has  afforded,  between  the  Atlantic  States  and 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  145 

the  western  ^territory,  and  to  encourage  the  use  of  them  to  tUe 
utmost.  In  my  judgment,  it  is  a  matter  of  very  serious  concern 
to  the  well-being  of  the  former,  to  make  it  the  interest  of  the 
latter  to  trade  with  them ;  without  which  the  ties  of  consanguinity 
which  are  weakening  every  day,  will  soon  be  no  bond,  and  we 
shall  be  no  more,  a  few  years  hence,  to  the  inhabitants  of  that 
country,  than  the  British  and  Spaniards  are  at  this  day ;  not  so 
much,  indeed,  because  commercial  connections,  it  is  well  known, 
lead  to  others,  and  united  are  difficult  to  be  broken.  These  must 
take  place  with  the  Spaniards,  if  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
is  opened. 

Clear  I  am  that  it  would  be  for  the  interest  of  the  western  set-  ^ 
tiers  as  low  down  the  Ohio  as  the  Big  Kenawha,  and  back  to  the 
lakes,  to  bring  their  produce  through  one  of  the  channels  I  have 
named  ;  but  the  way  must  be  cleared,  and  made  easy  and  obvious 
to  them,  or  else  the  ease  with  which  people  glide  down  the 
streams  will  give  a  different  bias  to  their  thinking  and  acting. 

Whenever  the  new  States  become  so  populous  and  so  extended  to 

f  if 

the  westward  as  really  to  need  it,  there  will  be  no  power  which 

can  deprive  them  of  the  use  of  the  Mississippi.  Why,  then, 
should  we  prematurely  urge  a  matter  which  is  displeasing,  and  may 
produce  disagreeable  consequences,  if  it  is  our  interest  to  let  it 
sleep  ?  It  may  require  some  management  to  quiet  the  restless 
and  impetuous  spirits  of  Kentucky,  of  whose  conduct  I  am  more 
apprehensive  in  this  business,  than  I  am  of  all  the  opposition  that 
will  be  given  by  the  Spaniards. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   LETTER  TO   THOMAS   JEFFERSON. 

MOUNT  VEKNON,  August  1,  1786. 

We  have  no  news  of  importance  ;   and,  if  we  had,  I  should 
hardly  be  in  the  way  of  learning  it,  as  I  divide  my  time  between 
the  superintendence  of  opening  the  navigation  of  our  rivers,  and 
attention  to  my  private  concerns. 
10 


146  WASHINGTON: 

'  -A.  ''.**-. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  BUSHROD  WASHINGTON. 
% 

MOUNT  VEBNON,  September  30, 1786. 

I  was  from  home  when  your  servant  arrived,  and  found  him 
in  a  hurry  to  be  gone  when  I  returned  !  I  have  company  in  the 
house,  and  am  on  the  eve  of  a  journey  up  the  river  to  meet  the 
Directors  of  the  Potomac  Company.  These  things  continuing 
will  not  allow  me  time  to  give  any  explicit  answer  to  the  question 
you  have  propounded. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  RICHARD  BUTLER,  SUPERINTENDENT  OF 
INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 


MOUNT  VERNON,  November  27,  1786. 

Your  appointment  gave  me  pleasure,  as  everything  will  do, 
which  contributes  to  your  satisfaction  and  emolument,  because  I 
have  a  sincere  regard  for  you.  In  your  leisure  hours,  whilst  you 
remain  on  the  Ohio  in  discharge  of  the  trust  reposed  in  you,  I 
should  be  glad  to  know  the  real  temper  and  designs  of  the  western 
Indians,  and  the  situation  of  affairs  in  that  country.  As  I  am 
anxious  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  navigation  of  Beaver  Creek, 
the  distance,  and  what  kind  of  portage  there  is  between  it  and 
Cayahoga,  or  any  other  nearer  navigable  water  of  Lake  Erie,  and 
the  nature  of  the  navigation  of  the  latter  ;  and  also  the  navigation 
of  the  Muskingum,  the  distance  and  sort  of  portage  across  to  the 
navigable  waters  of  Cayahoga  or  Sandusky,  and  the  kind  of  navi- 
gation therein ;  you  would  do  me  an  acceptable  favor  to  convey 
them  to  me,  with  the  computed  distances  from  the  River  Ohio  by 
each  of  these  routes  to  the  lake  itself. 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  147 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  19,  1787. 

I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  favor  of  the  15th  inst., 
and  thank  you  for  the  ordinance  which  was  inclosed  in  it.  My 
sentiments,  with  respect  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  have 
been  long  fixed,  and  are  not  dissimilar  to  those  which  are  expressed 
in  your  letter.  I  have  ever  been  of  opinion,  that  the  true  policy 
of  the  Atlantic  States,  instead  of  contending  prematurely  for  the 
free  navigation  of  that  river  (which  eventually,  and  perhaps  as 
soon  as  it  will  be  our  true  interest  to  obtain  it,  must  happen), 
would  be  to  open  and  improve  the  natural  communications  with 
the  western  country,  through  which  the  produce  of  it  might  be 
transported  with  convenience  and  ease  to  our  markets.  Till  you 
get  low  down  the  Ohio,  I  conceive,  that,  considering  the  length  of 
the  voyage  to  New  Orleans,  the  difficulty  of  the  current,  and  the 
time  necessary  to  perform  it  in,  it  would  be  the  interest  of  the 
inhabitants  to  bring  their  produce  to  our  ports ;  and  sure  I  am 
there  is  no  other  tie  by  which  they  will  long  form  a  link  in  the 
chain  of  federal  union.  I  believe,  however,  from  the  temper  in 
which  these  people  appear  to  be,  and  from  the  ambitious  and  tur- 
bulent spirit  of  some  of  their  demagogues,  that  it  has  become  a 
moot-point  to  determine,  when  every  circumstance  which  attends 
this  business  is  brought  into  view,  what  is  best  to  be  done.  The 
State  of  Virginia  having  taken  the  matter  up  with  so  high  a  hand, 
is  not  among  the  least  embarrassing  or  disagreeable  parts  of  the 
difficulty. 

- 


148  WASHINGTON:    « 


EXTRACT    FROM    GENERAL    WASHINGTON'S    LETTER    TO    THOMAS 
JEFFERSON. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  January  1,  1788. 

I  have  received  your  favor  of  the  14th  of  August,  and  am 
sorry  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  give  any  further  information 
relative  to  the  practicability  of  opening  a  communication  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  than  you  are  already  possessed  of.  I 
have  made  frequent  inquiries  since  the  time  of  your  writing  at 
Annapolis,  but  could  never  collect  anything  that  was  decided  or 
satisfactory.  I  have  again  renewed  them,  and  flatter  myself  with 
better  prospects. 

The  accounts  generally  agree  as  to  its  being  a  flat  country  be- 
tween the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Big  Beaver,  but  differ  very 
much  with  respect  to  the  distance  between  their  sources,  their 
navigation,  and  the  inconveniences  which  would  attend  the  cutting 
of  a  canal  between  them.  From  the  best  information  I  have  been 
able  to  obtain  of  that  country,  the  sources  of  the  Muskingum  and 
Cayahoga  approach  nearer  to  each  other  than  the  Big  Beaver; 
but  a  communication  through  the  Muskingum  would  be  more  cir- 
cuitous and  difficult,  having  the  Ohio  to  a  greater  extent  to  as- 
cend, unless  the  latter  could  be  avoided  by  opening  a  communica- 
tion between  James  River  and  the  Great  Kenawha,  or  between  the 
Little  Kenawha  and  the  west  branch  of  the  Monongahela,  which 
is  said  to  be  very  practicable  by  a  short  portage.  As  a  proof  of 
this,  a  road  is  now  opened,  or  opening,  under  the  authority,  and 
at  the  expense  of  the  States  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  from  the 
north  branch  of  the  Potomac,  commencing  at  the  mouth  of  Savage 
River  to  Cheat  River  ;  and  continued  from  thence  to  the  navigable 
waters  of  the  Little  Kenawha  at  the  cost  of  the  former. 

The  distance  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  through  the  Big 


AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  149 

Beaver,  is,  however,  so  much  less  than  the  route  through  the  Mus- 
kingum,  that  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  operate,  very  strongly  in 
favor  of  opening  a  canal  between  the  sources  of  the  nearest  water 
of  the  Lake  and  the  Big  Beaver,  although  the  distance  between 
them  should  be  much  greater,  and  the  operation  more  difficult 
than  to  the  Muskingum,  as  it  is  the  direct  line  to  the  nearest  ship- 
ping port  in  the  Atlantic.  I  shall  omit  no  opportunity  of  gaining 
every  information  relative  to  this  important  subject,  and  with 
pleasure  communicate  to  you  whatever  may  be  worthy  of  your 
attention. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  RICHARD  BUTLER. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  January  10,  1788. 

As  you  have  had  opportunities  of  gaining  extensive  knowledge 
and  information  respecting  the  western  territory,  its  situation, 
rivers,  and  the  face  of  the  country,  I  must  beg  the  favor  of  you, 
my  dear  sir,  to  resolve  the  following  queries,  either  from  your  own 
knowledge,  or  certain  information,  as  well  to  gratify  my  own 
curiosity  as  to  enable  me  to  satisfy  several  gentlemen  of  distinc- 
tion in  other  countries,  who  have  applied  to  me  for  information 
upon  the  subject. 

1.  What  is  the  face  of  the  country  between  the  sources,  or  canoe 
navigation  of  the  Cayahoga,  which  empties  itself  into  Lake  Erie 
and  the  Big  Beaver,  and  between  the  Cayahoga  and  the  Musk- 
ingum ? 

2.  The  distance  between  the  waters  of  the  Cayahoga  and  each 
of  the  two  rivers  above  mentioned  ? 

3.  Would  it  be  practicable,  and  not  very  expensive,  to  cut  a 
canal  between  the  Cayahoga  and  either  of  the  above  rivers,  so  as 
to  open  a  communication  between  the  waters  of  Lake  Brie  and  the 
Ohio? 


150  WASHINGTON: 

4.  Whether  there  is  any  more  direct,  practicable,  and  easy  com- 
munication, than  these  between  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  those 
of  the  Ohio,  by  which  the  fur  and  peltry  of  the  upper  country  can 
be  transported  ? 

% 

Any  information  you  can  give  me,  relative  to  the  above  queries, 
from  your  own  knowledge,  will  be  most  agreeable,  but  if  that  is 
not  sufficiently  accurate  for  you  to  decide  upon,  the  best  and  most 
authentic  accounts  of  others  will  be  very  acceptable. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  WILLIAM  IRVINE. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  February  18,  1788. 

I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  27th  ult, 
and  to  thank  you  for  the  information  contained  in  it.  As  a  com- 
munication between  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  those  of  the  Ohio 
is  a  matter  which  promises  great  public  utility,  and  as  every  step 
towards  the  investigation  of  it  may  be  considered  as  promoting 
the  general  interest  of  our  country,  I  need  make  no  apology  to  you 
for  any  trouble  that  I  have  given  upon  this  subject. 

I  am  fully  sensible  that  no  account  can  be  sufficiently  accurate  to 
hazard  any  operations  upon,  without  an  actual  survey.  My  object 
in  wishing  a  solution  of  the  queries  proposed  to  you,  was  that  I 
might  be  enabled  to  return  answers,  in  some  degree  satisfactory, 
to  several  gentlemen  of  distinction  in  foreign  countries,  who  have 
applied  to  me  for  information  on  the  subject,  in  behalf  of  others 
who  wish  to  engage  in  the  fur  trade,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
gratify  my  own  curiosity,  and  assist  me  in  forming  a  judgment  of 
the  practicability  of  opening  a  communication,  should  it  ever  be 
seriously  in  contemplation. 

1.  Could  a  channel  once  be  opened  to  convey  the  fur  and  peltry 
from  the  lakes  into  the  eastern  country,  its  advantages  would  be  so 
obvious  as  to  induce  an  opinion  that  it  would,  in  a  short  time, 


» 

AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION.  151 

become  the  channel  of  conveyance  for  much  the  greater  part  of  the 
commodities  brought  from  thence. 

2.  The  trade,  which  has  been  carried  on  between  New  York 
and  that  quarter,  is  subject  to  great  inconveniences  from  the  length 
of  the  communication,  number  of  portages,  and  at  seasons  from  ice, 
yet  it  has,  notwithstanding,  been  prosecuted  with  success. 

I  shall  feel  myself  much  obliged,  by  any  further  information 
that  you  may  find  time  and  inclination  to  communicate  to  me  on 
this  head. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  RICHARD  HENDERSON. 

MOUNT  VEKNON,  June  19,  1788. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  point  conceded,  that  America,  under  an 
efficient  government,  will  be  the  most  favorable  country  of  any  in 
the  world  for  persons  of  industry  and  frugality,  possessed  of  a 
moderate  capital.  It  is  also  believed,  that  it  will  not  be  less 
advantageous  to  the  happiness  of  the  lowest  class  of  people,  on 
account  of  the  equal  distribution  of  property,  the  great  plenty 
of  unoccupied  lands,  and  the  facility  of  procuring  the  means  of 
subsistence.  The  scheme  of  purchasing  a  good  tract  of  freehold 
estate,  and  bringing  out  a  number  of  able-bodied  men,  indented 
for  a  certain  time,  appears  to  be  indisputably  a  national  one. 

All  the  interior  arrangements  of  transferring  the  property,  and 
commencing  the  establishment,  you  are  as  well  acquainted  with 
as  I  can  possibly  be.  It  might, be  considered  a  point  of  more 
difficulty  to  decide  upon  the  place  which  should  be  most  proper 
for  a  settlement.  Although  I  believe  that  emigrants  from  other 
countries  to  this,  who  shall  be  well  disposed,  and  conduct  them- 
selves properly,  would  be  treated  with  equal  friendship  and  kind- 
ness in  all  parts  of  it ;  yet,  in  the  old-settled  States,  land  is  so 
much  occupied,  and  the  value  so  much  enhanced  by  the  contiguous 


152  WASHINGTON: 

* 

cultivation,  that  the  price  would,  in  general,  be  an  objection.  The 
land  in  the  western  country,  or  that  on  the  Ohio,  like  all  others, 
has  its  advantages  and  disadvantages.  The  neighborhood  of  the 
savages,  and  the  difficulty  of  transportation,  are  the  great  objec- 
tions. The  danger  of  the  first  will  soon  cease  by  the  strong  esta- 
blishments now  taking  place  ;  the  inconveniences  of  the  second 
will  be  in  a  great  degree  remedied,  by  opening  the  internal  navi- 
gation. No  colony  in  America  was  ever  settled  under  such  favor- 
able auspices  as  that  which  has  just  commenced  at  the  Muskingum. 
Information,  property,  and  strength  will  be  its  characteristics.  I 
know  many  of  the  settlers  personally,  and  there  never  were  men 
better  calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  such  a  community. 

If  I  was  a  young  man,  just  preparing  to  begin  the  world,  or  if 
advanced  in  life,  and  had  a  family  to  make  a  provision  for,  I  know 
of  no  country  where  I  should  rather  fix  my  habitation  than  in  some 
part  of  that  region  for  which  the  writer  of  the  queries  seems  to 
have  a  predilection.  He  might  be  informed  that  his  namesake  and 
distant  relation,  General  St.  Clair,  is  not  only  in  high  repute,  but 
that  he  is  Governor  of  all  the  territory  westward  of  the  Ohio,  and 
that  there  is  a  gentleman  (Mr.  Joel  Barlow)  gone  from  New  York 
by  the  last  French  packet,  who  will  be  in  London  in  the  course  of 
this  year,  and,  also,  is  authorized  to  dispose  of  a  very  large  body 
of  land  in  that  country. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

MOCXT  VERNON,  August  31,  1788. 

I  was  very  much  gratified  a  little  time  ago  by  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  dated  the  2d  of  May.  You  have  my  best  thanks  for 
the  political  information  contained  in  it,  as  well  as  for  the 
satisfactory  account  of  the  canal  of  Languedoc.  It  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  particulars  of  that 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  153 

stupendous  work,  though   I  do  not  expect  to  derive   any  but 
speculative  advantages  from  it. 

When  America  will  be  able  to  embark  in  projects  of  such 
pecuniary  extent,  I  know  not ;  probably  not  for  very  many  years 
to  come  ;  but  it  will  be  a  good  example,  and  not  without  its  use, 
if  we  can  carry  our  present  undertakings  happily  into  effect.  Of 
this  we  have  now  the  fairest  prospect.  Notwithstanding  the  real 
scarcity  of  money,  and  the  difficulty  of  collecting  it,  the  laborers 
employed  by  the  Potomac  Company  have  made  very  great  progress 
in  removing  the  obstructions  at  the  Shenandoah,  Seneca,  and 
Great  Falls ;  insomuch  that,  if  this  summer  had  not  proved 
unusually  rainy,  and  if  we  could  have  had  a  favorable  autumn,  the 
navigation  might  have  been  sufficiently  opened  (though  not  com- 
pleted) for  boats  to  pass  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  within  nine 
miles  of  a  shipping  port,  by  the  first  of  January  next.  There 
remains  now  no  doubt  of  the  practicability  of  the  plan,  or  that, 
upon  the  ulterior  operations  being  performed,  they  will  become  the 
great  avenue  into  the  western  country ;  a  country  which  is  now 
settling  in  an  extraordinarily  rapid  manner,  under  uncommonly 
favorable  circumstances,  and  which  promises  to  afford  a  capacious 
asylum  for  the  poor  and  persecuted  of  the  earth. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO   WILLIAM  IRVINE. 

MOUXT  VEKXON,  October  31,  1788. 

The  letter  with  which  you  favored  me,  dated  the  6th  instant, 
inclosing  a  sketch  of  the  waters  near  the  line  which  separates  your 
State  from  that  of  New  York,  came  duly  to  hand,  for  which  I  offer 
you  my  acknowledgments  and  thanks. 

The  extensive  inland  navigation  with  which  this  country  abounds, 
and  the  easy  communications  which  many  of  the  rivers  afford  with 
the  amazing  territory  to  the  westward  of  us,  will  certainly  be 


154  WASHINGTON: 

productive  of  inQnite  advantage  to  the  Atlantic  States,  if  the 
legislatures  of  those  through  which  they  pass  have  liberality  and 
public  spirit  enough  to  improve  them.  For  my  part,  I  wish 
sincerely  that  every  door  to  that  country  may  be  set  wide  open, 
that  the  commercial  intercourse  with  it  may  be  rendered  as  free  and 
as  easy  as  possible.  This,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  best,  if  not  the 
only  cement  that  can  bind  those  people  to  us  for  any  length  of 
time ;  and  we  shall,  I  think,  be  deficient  in  forethought  and  wisdom 
if  we  neglect  the  means  to  effect  it.  Our  interest  is  so  much  in 
unison  with  the  policy  of  the  measure,  that  nothing  but  that  ill-timed 
and  misapplied  parsimony,  and  contracted  way  of  thinking  which 
intermingles  so  much  in  all  our  public  councils,  can  counteract  it. 
If  the  Chatauque  Lake,  at  the  head  of  Conewango  River, 
approximates  Lake  Erie  as  nearly  as  is  laid  down  in  the  draft  you 
sent  me,  it  presents  a  very  short  portage  indeed  between  the  two, 
and  an  access  to  all  those  above  the  latter. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   LETTER   TO   WILLIAM   GORDON. 

MOUNT  VEBSON,  December  23,  1788. 

This  much  I  thought  it  might  be  well  to  say,  in  apology  for  my 
not  being  able  to  comply  with  your  request.  Indeed,  when  you 
consider  the  domestic  walks  of  life  in  which  I  pass  my  days,  the 
multiplicity  of  private  concerns  in  which  I  am  involved,  the 
numerous  epistolary  applications  from  different  quarters,  the  round 
of  company  I  have  at  my  house,  and  the  avocations  occasioned  by 
tny  being  at  the  head  of  the  company  for  clearing  the  Potomac, 
you  will  do  me  the  justice  to  suppose  that  I  can  have  few  topics  or 
little  time  for  correspondences  of  mere  friendship,  ceremony,  or 
speculation. 


AFTER    THE   REVOLUTION.  155 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   LETTER   TO   THOMAS   JEFFERSON. 


MOUNT  VBRNON,  February  13,  1789. 

A  desire  of  encouraging  whatever  is  useful  and  economical 
seems  now  generally  to  prevail.  Several  capital  artists  in  different 
branches  have  lately  arrived  in  the  country.  A  factory  of  glass  is 
established  upon  a  large  scale  on  Moaocacy  River,  near  Frederick- 
town,  in  Maryland.  I  am  informed  it  will  this  year  produce  glass 
of  various  kinds  nearly  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand  pounds 
value.  This  factory  will  be  essentially  benefited  by  having  the 
navigation  of  the  Potomac  completely  opened.  But  the  total 
benefits  of  that  navigation  will  not  be  confined  to  narrower  limits 
than  the  extent  of  the  whole  western  territory  of  the  United  States. 

You  have  been  made  acquainted,  my  dear  sir,  with  my  ideas  of 
the  practicability,  importance  and  extent  of  that  navigation,  as 
they  have  been  occasionally,  though  fully  expressed,  in  my  several 
letters  to  you.  Notwithstanding  my  constant  and  utmost  endea- 
vors to  obtain  precise  information  respecting  the  nearest  and  best 
communication  between  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie,  I  am  not  yet  able 
to  add  anything  more  satisfactory  to  the  observations  which  I  have 
had  the  honor  to  make  on  that  subject;  but  I  have  lately  received 
a  correct  draft  executed  principally  from  actual  surveys  of  the 
country  between  the  sources  of  the  Potomac  and  those  navigable 
waters  that  fall  into  the  Ohio.  Of  this  I  inclose  you  such  a  rough 
sketch  as  my  avocations  would  permit  me  to  make ;  my  principal 
object  being  to  show,  that  the  distance  between  the  two  waters  is 
shorter,  and  that  the  means  of  communication  are  easier  than  I 
had  hitherto  represented  or  imagined.  I  need  not  describe  what 
and  how  extensive  the  rivers  are,  which  will  be  thus  in  a  wonderful 
manner  connected  as  soon  as  the  Potomac  shall  be  rendered  entirely 
passable.  The  passage  would  have  been  opened  from  Fort  Cum- 
berland to  the  Great  Falls  (nine  miles  from  tide-water)  before  this 


156  WASHINGTON: 

time,  as  I  mentioned  in  my  letter  of  the  31st  of  August  last,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  unfavorableness  of  the  season.  In  spite  of  that 
untoward  circumstance,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you,  that  two 
or  three  boats  have  actually  arrived  at  the  last-mentioned  place. 

I  am  going  on  Monday  next  to  visit  the  works  as  far  as  the  Seneca 
Falls.  Could  I  have  delayed  writing  the  letter  until  my  return 
from  thence,  and  afterwards  availed  myself  of  the  same  conveyance, 
I  might  have  been  more  particular  in  my  account  of  the  state  of 
the  several  works,  and  especially  of  the  situation  of  the  land 
adjoining  the  canal  at  the  Great  Falls.  Whensoever  the  produce 
of  the  parts  of  the  country  bordering  on  the  sources  of  the  Potomac, 
and  contiguous  to  the  long  rivers  that  run  into  it  (particularly  the 
Shenandoah  and  South  Branch),  shall  be  water-borne  down  to  tide- 
water for  exportation,  I  conceive  this  place  must  become  very 
valuable.  From  the  conveniency  of  the  basin  a  little  above 
the  spot  where  the  locks  are  to  be  placed,  and  from  the  induce- 
ments which  will  be  superadded  by  several  fine  mill-seats,  I  cannot 
entertain  a  doubt  of  the  establishment  of  a  town  in  that  place. 
Indeed,  mercantile  people  are  desirous  that  the  event  should  take 
place  as  soon  as  possible.  Manufactures  of  various  commodities, 
and  in  iron  particularly,  will  doubtless  be  carried  on  to  advantage 
there.  The  mill-seats  I  know  have  long  been  considered  as  very 
valuable  ones.  How  far  buildings  erected  upon  them  may  be 
exposed  to  injuries  from  freshets  or  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice,  I 
am  not  competent  to  determine  from  my  own  knowledge;  but  the 
opinion  of  persons  better  acquainted  with  these  matters  than  I  am, 
is,  that  they  may  be  rendered  secure.  On  the  commodiousness  of 
Alexandria  for  carrying  on  the  fur  trade  throughout  the  whole 
western  country,  I  treated  in  a  very  minute,  and  I  may  say,  almost 
voluminous  manner,  in  my  communication  to  you  on  the  30th  of 
May,  1787.  Probably  Georgetown  and  the  place  which  I  have 
just  mentioned,  will  participate  largely  and  happily  in  the  great 
emoluments  to  be  derived  from  that  and  other  valuable  articles, 
through  the  inland  navigation  of  the  upper  and  western  country. 


4 

AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION.  157 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   LETTER   TO   HARRY   1NNES. 

w 

'  <*. 

MOUNT  VKRNOW,  March  2,  1789. 

I  have  been  favored  by  the  receipt  of  your  obliging  letter,  dated 
the  18th  of  December  last,  just  in  time  to  send  my  acknowledg- 
ments by  a  person  who  is  immediately  returning  to  Kentucky.  This 
circumstance  prevents  me  from  expressing  so  fully  as  I  might 
otherwise  have  done,  the  sense  I  have  of  the  very  patriotic  senti- 
ments you  entertain  respecting  the  important  matter  which  is  the 
subject  of  your  letter.  As  a  friend  to  United  America,  I  embrace 
with  extreme  satisfaction  the  proposals  you  are  pleased  to  offer  of 
transmitting  further  intelligence.  For  which  purpose  I  will 
endeavor  to  arrange  and  send  you  a  cipher  by  the  earliest  safe 
conveyance.  In  the  mean  time,  I  rely  implicitly  upon  that  honor 
which  you  have  pledged,  and  those  professions  which  you  have 
made ;  and  sincerely  hope,  that  your  activity  and  discretion  will  be 
successful  in  developing. 


The  following  extracts  of  a  correspondence  between 
the  Earl  of  Buchan,  a  Scotch  nobleman,  eminent  for 
his  learning,  his  Christian  virtues,  and  the  benevolence 
of  his  heart,  and  General  Washington,  form  an  appro- 
priate and  graceful  conclusion  to  the  Third  Part  of 
this  compilation. 

DBTBURO  ABBEY,  June  28,  1791. 

SIR:  .1  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  Excellency's  letter,  relating 
to  the  advertisement  of  Dr.  Anderson's  periodical  publication,  in 
the  Gazette  of  the  United  States  ;  which  attention  to  my  recom- 


158  WASHINGTON: 

mendation,    I  feel   very   sensibly,   and   return    you   my   grateful 
acknowledgments. 

In  the  21st  No.  of  that  Literary  Miscellany,  I  inserted  a 
monetary  paper,  respecting  America,  which  I  flatter  myself  may, 
if  attended  to  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  be  productive  of 
good  consequences. 

To  use  your  own  emphatic  words,  "  May  that  Almighty  Being 
who  rules  over  the  universe,  who  presides  in  the  councils  of 
nations,  and  whose  providential  aid  can  supply  every  human  defect, 
consecrate,  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  American  people, 
a  government  instituted  by  themselves,  for  public  and  private 
security,  upon  the  basis  of  law  and  equal  administration  of  justice, 
preserving  to  every  individual  as  much  civil  and  political  freedom 
as  is  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  nation."  And  may  He  be 
pleased  to  continue  your  life  and  strength,  as  long  as  you  can  be 
in  any  way  useful  to  your  country. 

Yours,  &c, 

BUCHAN. 


PHILADELPHIA,  April  22,  1793. 

MY  LORD:  The  favorable  wishes  which  your  Lordship  has 
expressed  for  the  prosperity  of  this  young  and  rising  country, 
cannot  but  be  gratefully  received  by  all  its  citizens  and  every  lover 
of  it ;  one  mean  to  the  contribution  of  which,  and  its  happiness, 
is  very  judiciously  portrayed  in  the  following  words  of  your  letter: 
"To  be  little  heard  of  in  the  great  world  of  politics." 

These  words,  I  can  assure  your  Lordship,  are  an  expression  of 
my  sentiments  on  this  head  ;  and  I  believe  it  is  the  sincere  wish 
of  United  America  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  political 
intrigues  or  squabbles  of  European  nations ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
to  exchange  commodities,  and  live  in  peace  and  amity  with  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  and  this,  I  am  persuaded,  they  will  do, 
if  rightfully  it  can  be  done. 


AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  159 

To  administer  justice  to,  and  receive  it  from  every  power  they 
are  connected  with,  will,  I  hope,  be  always  found  the  most 
prominent  feature  in  the  administration  of  this  country ;  and,  I 
flatter  myself,  that  nothing  short  of  imperious  necessity  can 
occasion  a  breach  with  any  of  them.  Under  such  a  system,  if 
we  are  allowed  to  pursue  it,  the  agriculture  and  mechanical  arts — 
the  wealth  and  population  of  these  States,  will  increase  with  that 
degree  of  rapidity,  as  to  baffle  all  calculations,  and  must  surpass 
any  idea  your  Lordship  can  hitherto  have  entertained  on  the 
occasion. 

I  am,  &c., 

G.  WASHINGTON. 

To  THE  EARL  or  BUCHAN,  &c.  &c. 


THE  END. 


* 
t 


<*  * 

to 

*  * 

*        * 

* 


APPENDIX, 


•*• 


*• 


I    .  , 


APPENDIX. 


To  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  ESQUIRE,  ONE  OF  THE  ADJU- 
TANTS GENERAL  OF  THE  TROOPS  AND  FORCES  IN  THE 
COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA. 

I,  reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in  the  ability, 
conduct,  and  fidelity  of  you,  the  said  George  Washington, 
have  appointed  you  my  express  messenger;  and  you  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  proceed  hence  with  all 
convenient  and  possible  dispatch,  to  that  place  on  the  Kiver 
Ohio,  where  the  French  have  lately  erected  a  fort  or  forts,  or 
where  the  commandant  of  the  French  forces  resides,  in  order 
to  deliver  my  letter  and  message  to  him,  and  after  waiting 
not  exceeding  one  week  for  an  answer,  you  are  to  take  your 
leave  and  return  immediately  back. 

To  this  communication;  I  have  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  great  seal  of  this  dominion  to  be  affixed,  at  the  city  of 
Williamsburg,  the  seat  of  my  government,  this  30th  day  of 
October,  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  his 
Majesty  George  the  Second,  King  of  Great  Britain,  &c.  &c. 

ROBERT  DINWIDDIE. 


Annoque  Domini,  1753. 


I 

164  APPENDIX. 

B. 

\ 

INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Whereas,  I  have  received  information  of  a  body  of  French 
forces  being  assembled  in  a  hostile  manner  on  the  Eiver  Ohio, 
intending  by  force  of  arms  to  erect  certain  forts  on  the  said 
river  within  this  territory,  and  contrary  to  the  dignity  and 
peace  of  our  sovereign  and  King  of  Great  Britain : 

These  are,  therefore,  to  require  and  direct  you,  the  said 
George  Washington,  forthwith  to  repair  to  Logstown,  on  the 
said  River  Ohio,  and  having  there  informed  yourself  where  the 
said  French  forces  have  posted  themselves,  thereupon  to  pro- 
ceed to  such  place;  and  being  there  arrived,  to  present  your 
credentials,  together  with  my  letter,  to  the  chief  commanding 
officer,  and  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic  Majesty  to  demand 
an  answer  thereto. 

On  your  arrival  at  Logstown,  you  are  to  address  yourself 
to  the  half  king,  to  Monacotoicha,  and  other  the  sachems 
of  the  Six  Nations,  acquainting  them  with  your  orders  to 
visit  and  deliver  my  letter  to  the  French  commanding  officer, 
and  desiring  the  said  chiefs  to  appoint  you  a  sufficient  number 
of  their  warriors  to  be  your  safeguard,  as  near  the  French  as 
you  may  desire,  and  to  wait  your  further  directions. 

You  are  diligently  to  inquire  into  the  number  and  force 
of  the  French  on  the  Ohio,  and  the  adjacent  country;  how 
they  are  likely  to  be  assisted  from  Canada ;  and  what  are  the 
difficulties  and  conveniences  of  that  communication,  and  the 
time  required  for  it. 

You  are  to  take  care  to  be  truly  informed  what  forts  the 


APPENDIX.  165 

French  have  erected,  and  where;  how  they  are  garrisoned 
and  appointed,  and  what  is  their  distance  from  each  other, 
and  from  Logstown ;  and  from  the  best  intelligence  you  can 
procure,  your  are  to  learn  what  gave  occasion  to  this  expedi- 
tion of  the  French;  how  they  are  likely  to  be  supported,  and 
what  their  pretensions  are. 

"When  the  French  commandant  has  given  you  the  required 
and  necessary  dispatches,  you  are  to  desire  of  him  a  proper 
guard  to  protect  you  as  far  on  your  return  as  you  may  judge 
for  your  safety,  against  any  straggling  Indians  or  hunters 
that  may  be  ignorant  of  your  character,  and  molest  you. 

Wishing  you  good  success  in  your  negotiation,  and  a 
safe  and  speedy  return, 

I  am,  &c., 

KOBEKT  DINWIDDIE. 

WILLIAMSBUKG,  October  30,  1753. 


c. 


TO  ALL  TO  WHOM  THESE  PRESENTS  MAY  COME  OR  CONCERN, 
GREETING  : 

Whereas,  I  have  appointed  George  Washington,  Esquire, 
by  commission,  under  the  great  seal,  my  express  messenger 
to  the  commandant  of  the  French  forces  on  the  River  Ohio, 

and  as  he  is  charged  with  business  of  great  importance  to 

. 
his  majesty,  and  this  Dominion  : 

I  do  hereby  command  all  his  majesty's  subjects,  and  par- 
ticularly require  all  in  alliance  and  amity  with  the  crown  of 


166  APPENDIX. 

Great  Britain,  and  all  others  to  whom  this  passport  may  come 
agreeably  to  the  law  of  nations,  to  be  aiding  and  assisting, 
as  a  safeguard  to  the  said  George  Washington,  and  his 
attendants,  in  his  present  passage  to  and  from  the  Eiver  Ohio, 
as  aforesaid. 

ROBERT  DINWIDDIE. 

»    ' 


D. 

f% 

«        • 

• 

Fort  Cumberland  was  constructed  on  the  west  bank  of 
Wills'  Creek,  near  its  junction  with  the  Potomac  Eiver.  It 
•was  a  breastwork  of  earth,  of  irregular  form.  The  name 
was  given  to  it  by  general  Braddock  in  honor  of  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland,  through  whose  influence  with  the  court  he 
was  selected  to  take  command  of  the  troops. 

The  Duke  was  an  accomplished  officer ;  had  served  with 
great  distinction  in  Flanders,  and  was  an  universal  favorite 
with  the  army.  When  the  civil  commotions  took  place 
between  England  and  Scotland,  this  distinguished  nobleman 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  King's  forces  in  Edin- 
burgh, amounting  to  about  14,000  men. 


APPENDIX.  167 

* 
-'."*•  ,>  •  *..  , 

E. 

The  "Great  Meadows"  is  a  piece  of  flat  land  situated  in  the 
valley  of  a  small  stream  which  empties  into  the  Youghiogheny 
Eiver  on  the  west  side  of  Laurel  Hill,  and  about  500  yards 
south  of  the  national  road. 

The  battle  was  fought  on  the  3d  day  of  July,  1754. 

It  was  the  intention  of  Col.  Washington,  and  the  decision 
of  the  council  of  war,  which  was  held  while  he  occupied 
with  his  small  force  an  encampment  on  the  southwest  side 
of  the  hill,  that  as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  French 
and  their  Indian  allies  had  determined  to  march  against- 
them,  to  retire  from  that  position  to  Gist's  plantation  on  the 
northeast  side  of  the  hill,  and  entrench  himself  there,  and 
make  a  stand  against  the  enemy.  But  time  did  not  allow 
this  plan  to  be  carried  into  effect.  The  scouting  and  spying 
parties  returned  and  reported  that  the  enemy  in  combined 
force  were  on  their  march  to  make  an  attack.  The  men 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Washington  were  much 
fatigued  from  incessant  toil  for  some  time ;  they  were  also 
short  of  provisions.  He  determined,  therefore,  to  halt  his 
command  at  the  first  advantageous  position  he  could  reach 
with  the  swivels  and  baggage,  and  the  few  horses  he  had 
with  him.  This  spot,  so  memorable  in  history,  was  the 
Great  Meadows.  Here  he  hastily  threw  up  an  entrenchment, 
and  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  the  same  day;  the 
enemy  appeared,  and  with  the  usual  yells  of  the  savages,  the 
enemy  rushed  upon  the  entrenched  camp ;  but  were  met 
and  repelled  with  the  loss  of  several  hundred  French  and 
their  Indian  allies. 


168  APPENDIX. 

|F:1 

j|-  ' 

F. 

*y  Colonel  George  Washington  was  appointed  Commander- 

in-Chief  of  the  American  army,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of 
the  first  Congress,  which  convened  in  Philadelphia,  on  the 
15th  day  of  June,  1775,  and  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  following  proceedings  on  that  occasion,  are  copied 
from  the  Journal. 


IN  CONGRESS,  Thursday,  June  15,  1775. 

Resolved,  That  a  General  be  appointed  to  command  all  the 
continental  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  the  defence  of 
American  liberty. 

That  five  hundred  dollars  per  month  be  allowed  for  the 
pay  and  expenses  of  the  General. 

The  Congress  then  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  a  General, 
by  ballot,  and  George  Washington,  Esq.,  was  unanimously 
elected. 


Friday,  June  16,  1775. 

The  President  informed  Colonel  Washington  that  the 
Congress  had,  yesterday,  unanimously  made  choice  of  him 
to  be  General  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American 
forces,  and  requested  he  would  accept  of  that  employment ; 
to  which  Colonel  Washington,  standing  in  his  place,  as  a 
member  of  the  House,  answered : — 


;•«< 


APPENDIX.  169 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  : 

Though  I  am  truly  sensible  of  the  high  honor  done 
me  in  this  appointment,  yet  I  feel  great  distress  from  a 
consciousness  that  my  abilities  and  military  experience  may 
not  be  equal  to  the  extensive  and  important  trust ;  however, 
as  the  Congress  desire  it,  I  will  enter  upon  the  momentous 
duty,  and  exert  every  power  I  possess  in  their  service,  for 
the  support  of  the  glorious  cause.  I  beg  they  will  accept 
my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this  distinguished  testimony  of 
their  approbation. 

But  lest  some  event  should  happen  unfavorable  to  my 
reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be  remembered  by  every  gentleman 
in  the  room,  that  I  this  day  declare,  with  the  utmost  sincerity, 
I  do  not  think  myself  equal  to  the  command  I  am  honored 
with. 

With  respect  to  pay,  sir,  I  must  beg  leave  to  assure 
Congress  that,  as  no  pecuniary  consideration  could  have 
tempted  me  to  accept  this  arduous  employment,  at  the 
expense  of  my  domestic  ease  and  happiness,  I  do  not  wish 
to  make  any  profit  from  it.  I  will  keep  an  exact  account  of 
my  expenses.  These  I  doubt  not  they  will  discharge,  and 
that  is  all  I  desire. 


G. 

December  23,  1783. 


Mr.  PRESIDENT  : 

The  events  on  which  my  resignation  depended  having 
at  length  taken  place,  I  have  now  the  honor  of  offering  my 
sincere  congratulations  to  Congress,  and  of  presenting  myself 

i 


170  APPENDIX. 

before  them  to  surrender  into  their  hands  the  trust  committed 
to  me,  and  to  claim  the  indulgence  of  retiring  from  the 
service  of  my  country. 

Happy  in  the  confirmation  of  our  independence  and 
sovereignty,  and  pleased  with  the  opportunity  afforded  the 
United  States  of  becoming  a  respectable  nation,  I  resign 
with  satisfaction  the  appointment  I  accepted  with  diffidence, 
a  diffidence  in  my  abilities  to  accomplish  so  arduous  a  task ; 
which,  however,  was  superseded  by  a  confidence  in  the 
rectitude  of  our  cause,  the  support  of  the  supreme  power  of 
the  Union,  and  the  patronage  of  heaven. 

The  successful  termination  of  the  war  has  verified  the 
most  sanguine  expectations ;  and  my  gratitude  for  the  inter- 
position of  Providence,  and  the  assistance  I  have  received 
from  my  countrymen,  increases  with  every  review  of  the 
momentous  contest. 

While  I  repeat  my  obligations  to  the  army  in  general,  I 
should  do  injustice  to  my  own  feelings  not  to  acknowledge, 
in  this  place,  the  peculiar  services  and  distinguished  merits 
.of  the  gentlemen  who-  have  been  attached  to  my  person 
during  the  war.  It  was  impossible  the  choice  of  confidential 
officers  to  compose  my  family  should  have  been  more 
fortunate.  Permit  me,  sir,  to  recommend  in  particular, 
those  who  have  continued  in  the  service  to  the  present 
moment,  as  worthy  of  the  favorable  notice  and  patronage  of 
Congress. 

I  consider  it  an  indispensable  duty  to  close  this  last  act 
of  my  official  life,  by  commending  the  interests  of  our  dearest 
country  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  and  those  who 
have  the  superintendence  of  them  to  his  holy  keeping. 

Having  now  finished  the  work  assigned  me,  I  retire  from 
the  theatre  of  action,  and  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to 


APPENDIX.  171 

this  august  body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  so  long  acted, 
I  here  offer  my  commission,  and  take  my  leave  of  all  the 
employments  of  public  life. 


V  -i 


H. 


The  following  highly  interesting  letter  was  received  from 
the  Hon.  Andrew  Stewart,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  reply  to  an 
application  of  the  compiler  for  information  relative  to  an 
original  MS.  of  General  Washington,  understood  to  be  in 
his  hands,  indicating  a  route  to  communicate  with  the  west 
nearly  identical  with  that  now  proposed  for  the  Connellsville 
Eail  Eoad.  The  distinguished  position  Mr.  Stewart  occupied 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  and  his  warm  and  zealous  advocacy 
of  measures  of  internal  improvement,  and  his  patriotic 
devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  his  country,  manifested  both 
in  his  public  and  private  life,  the  compiler  regards  as  a 
sufficient  apology  for  the  liberty  he  has  taken  to  introduce 
his  letter. 


UNIONTOWN,  PA.,  March  23, 1853. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  of  the  26th  inst.  is  just  received,  and  I 
hasten  to  comply  with  your  request  to  furnish  you  with  an 
abstract  from,  or  reference  to  the  original  manuscript  docu- 
ments of  General  Washington,  referred  to  in  some  remarks 
I  recently  made  before  the  councils  of  Alleghany  City,  in 
reference  to  the  Connellsville  Eoad. 

You  will  find  the  whole  of  these  documents,  with  many 


172  APPENDIX. 

others  connected  with  the  early  history  of  the  Potomac  Com- 
pany (never  before  published),  in  the  body  and  appendix  to 
a  report  of  122  pages,  I  made  from  the  Committee  on  "Roads 
and  Canals"  in  Congress  on  the  22d  of  May,  1826  (27  years 
ago),  numbered  228,  and  bound  in  Reports  of  Committees, 
House  of  Reps.  Congress  U.  S.,  1st  Session,  19th  Congress, 
subject,  "  The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canair  y  From  these 
documents  you  will  discover  the  interesting  fact  that  as  early 
as  1754-,  20  years  before  the  Revolution,  General  Washing- 
ton in  person  explored  the  proposed  route  for  connecting 
the  east  and  west  by  the  waters  of  the  Potomac  and  Yough- 
iogheny  Rivers,  and  made  a  report  to  the  Colonial  Legislature 
of  Virginia,  describing  all  the  obstructions  to  be  overcome 
from  Cumberland  at  the  mouth  of  Wills'  Creek  to  George- 
town, or  Washington  City.  On  the  20th  of  July,  1770,  he 
made  another  report  to  the  Governor  of  Maryland,  compre- 
hending the  whole  route  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ohio  River 
at  Pittsburg,  by  the  Connellsville  route,  contrasting  it  with 
the  Susquehanna  and  other  connections,  showing  its  supe- 
riority as  to  distance  and  facility  of  construction,  and  its 
vast  importance,  "  as  a  means,"  to  use  his  own  words,  "  of  be- 
coming the  channel  of  conveyance  of  the  extensive  and  valu- 
able trade  of  a  rising  empire"  If  such  were  the  views  of 
Washington  in  1770,  of  the  importance  of  this  route,  what 
should  be  said  of  it  now  ?  Ought  not  this  favorite  work  of 
the  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY  to  be  now  consummated  ?  He 
finally  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  act  of  the  Virginia  Legisla- 
ture to  incorporate  a  company  to  make  this  improvement. 

In  1784  he  went  to  Annapolis,  in  company  with  Gen. 
Lafayette,  and  obtained  a  concurrent  act  of  the  Maryland 
Legislature — and  jn  a  long  letter,  dated,  "  Mount  Vernon, 
3d  Dec.,  1784,"  addressed  to  James  Madison  and  Mr.  Jones, 


APPENDIX.  173 

then  members  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  he  reiterates  his 
views  as  to  the  great  importance  of  opening  the  communi- 
cation, as  the  best,  if  not  the  only  means  of  keeping  the 
eastern  and  western  countries  together,  and  pressing  upon 
them  the  necessity  of  a  united  application  by  Virginia  and 
Maryland  to  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  to  co-operate 
in  the  construction  of  this  work,  so  far  as  it  passed  through 
her  territory,  between  Cumberland  and  Pittsburg.  He  also 
suggests  the  arguments  to  be  urged,  and  the  benefits  to  re- 
sult to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  whole  west  for 
this  work.  Here  is  also  displayed  in  a  remarkable  manner 
the  wonderful  sagacity  of  this  wonderful  man. 

From  these  documents,  you  will  further  discover  that  as 
soon  as  General  Washington  was  relieved  from  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  in  1783,  and  before  Indian  hostilities  had 
ceased,  he  immediately  returned  to  this  favorite  plan  of 
uniting  the  East  and  West,  and  filled  with  the  idea  of  its  im- 
portance, he  mounted  his  horse,  and  at  the  hazard  of  his 
life  actually  explored  in  person  all  the  present  routes  for 
connecting  the  Eastern  and  Western  States  (the  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia),  and  after  his  return 
in  1784,  in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Chastelleux,  he  says : 
"I  have  lately  made  a  tour  through  the  Lakes  George  and 
Champlain  as  far  as  Crown  Point,  then  returning  to  Schenec- 
tady,  I  proceeded  up  the  Mohawk  Eiver  to  Fort  Schuyler, 
crossed  over  the  Wood  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  Oneida 
Lake,  and  affords  the  water  communication  with  Ontario.  I 
then  traversed  the  country  to  the  head  of  the  eastern  branch 
of  the  Susquehanna,  and  viewed  the  lake  Otsego,  and  the 
portage  between  that  lake  and  the  Mohawk  Eiver  at  Canajo- 
harie.  Prompted  by  these  actual  observations,  I  could  not 
help  taking  a  more  contemplative  and  extensive  view  of  the 


174  APPENDIX. 

vast  inland  navigation  of  the  United  States,  and  could  not  but 
be  struck  with  the  immense  diffusion  and  importance  of  it 
and  with  the  goodness  of  that  Providence  which  has  dealt 
his  favors  with  so  profuse  a  hand.  Would  to  God  we  may 
have  wisdom  enough  to  improve  them!  I  shall  not  rest 
contented  until  I  have  explored  the  western  country,  and 
traversed  those  lines  (or  great  part  of  them)  which  have 
given  bounds  to  a  new  empire." 

Among  all  the  evidences  of  General  Washington's  love  of 
country,  I  consider  this  one  of  the  most  striking.  That  at 
that  early  day,  without  fee  or  reward,  he  should  have  hazarded 
his  life  amid  hostile  Indians,  and  his  health,  sleeping  in  the 
open  woods  in  countries  then  totally  uninhabited,  is  an  act 
of  patriotic  self-devotion,  which  we  at  this  day  can  scarcely 
believe  possible. 

Among  the  manuscript  reports  of  General  Washington  on 
this  subject,  I  also  found  the  following  comparison  of  the 
several  routes  explored  by  him  :  — 


DISTANCE  FROM  DETROIT  TO  THE  SEVERAL  SEAPORTS. 

From  Detroit,  by  the  route  through  Fort  Pitt  and  Fort  Cumberland  :  — 

MILES. 
To  Alexandria  (or  Washington  City)  .        .        .        .        .       607 

"  Richmond     .........      840 

"  Philadelphia  .........       745 

"  Albany  ..........      943 

"  New  York      ......        ...     1103 

I  also  found  among  his  papers  a  map,  made  out  by  Gen. 
Washington  himself,  indicating  the  route  for  what  he  calls  a 


APPENDIX.  175 

."."•',  1 .     "  ,.  '  '.""•'•  '  y^-   •;    •'";»>.        '•*•'.        '   • 

"  portage"  between  the  waters  of  the  Potomac  and  Youghiog- 
heny,  on  the  very  ground,  with  slight  variations,  on  which 
the  national  road  was  afterwards  constructed.  For  the  means 
of  making  this  road,  he  applied  to  the  Virginia  and  Maryland 
Legislatures — the  Western  people  being  tlien  able,  he  said,  to 
furnish  little  or  no  aid.  In  making  these  locations  and  maps, 
it  appears  he  employed  surveyors  and  hands,  whom  he  paid 
from  his  own  pocket.  Among  them  I  find  the  names  of 
Samuel  Hanaway  and  Dr.  James  Craig,  the  latter  of  whom 
acknowledges  the  receipt  of  £12  7s.  and  6d,  being  his  part 
of  the  expense,  and  who  says,  in  one  of  his  letters,  "  a  gene- 
ral account  of  the  expenses  must  be  deferred  until  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you."  These  gentlemen  made  detailed 
reports  of  their  operations  to  General  Washington,  which 
you  will  find  in  the  appendix  to  my  report,  to  which  I  refer 
you  for  these  and  other  details  equally  interesting,  of  which 
you  can  avail  yourself,  if  you  please,  in  the  interesting  work 
you  are  about  issuing.  You  can  find  them  nowhere  else. 
The  original  manuscript  I  returned  to  General  Mason,  father 
of  the  present  Senator  from  Virginia. 

Yours,  very  respectfully, 

A.  STEWART. 

•'Vk 

Col.  JNO.  PlCKELL. 


* 
» 


^  >  < 

X 

176  APPENDIX. 


I. 


One  of  the  most  important  results  of  the  policy  of  internal 
improvement,  was  the  construction  of  the  National  or  Cumber- 
land Road,  and  to  which  the  rapid  growth  of  the  West,  in 
population  and  commercial  prosperity,  is  mainly  attributable. 
The  compiler  well  recollects,  as  late  as  1835,  when  that  great 
avenue  leading  from  Cumberland  to  the  Ohio  River  was  lite- 
rally covered  with  horsemen,  wagons,  and  other  vehicles, 
forming  an  unbroken  line,  wending  their  way  over  its  smooth, 
but  hilly  and  mountainous  surface,  to  the  far  West.  Thou- 
sands of  emigrants,  almost  daily,  were  seen  travelling  to  their 
future  homes  beyond  the  mountains,  where  they  planted 
themselves  on  the  broad  plains,  in  the  fertile  valleys,  and 
along  the  borders  of  the  numerous  streams  of  that  then  dis- 
tant land.  By  their  untiring  energy,  toil,  and  perseverance, 
an  empire  of  wealth  and  strength  was  added  to  the  Union — 
an  empire  which  cannot  be  contemplated  without  awakening 
the  most  patriotic  feelings,  and  the  deepest  gratitude  of  our 
hearts  to  an  overruling  Providence,  for  the  blessings  vouch- 
safed to  us  as  a  nation — a  united  family  of  sister  States. 


') 

*•*"''  ^        v 

. 

APPENDIX.  177 

:  ••"  *  ^:*.  • 

K. 

To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assemblies 

of  Virginia  and  Maryland. 

The  humble  petition  of  the  President  and  Directors  of  the 
Potomac  Company,  in  behalf  of  the  said  Company, 
showeth : 

That  in  and  by  the  acts  of  the  said  "  Assemblies,"  for  open- 
ing and  extending  the  navigation  of  Potomac  Eiver,  it  is 
provided  and  enacted,  "  That  in  case  the  said  company  should 
not  begin  the  work  mentioned  in  the  said  Act,  within  one 
year  after  the  company  should  be  formed  ;  or  if  the  naviga- 
tion should  not  be  made  and  improved  between  the  Great 
Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland,  in  the  manner  hereinbefore 
mentioned,  within  three  years  after  the  said  company  should 
be  formed,  then  the  said  company  should  not  be  entitled  to  » 
any  benefit,  privilege,  or  advantage,  under  the  said  Act." 

That  your  petitioners  conceive  the  intention  of  the  Legis- 
latures in  limiting  the  company  to  three  years,  after  its  for- 
mation, for  making  and  improving  the  navigation  between 
the  Great  Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland,  was  to  prevent  any 
unnecessary  delay  in  executing  the  work,  and  on  the  pre- 
sumption that  the  time  allowed  was  fully  sufficient  to  effect 
it  in  the  common  and  usual  course  of  the  seasons. 

That  the  said  company  have  entered  on  the  work,  within 
the  time  limited,  and  prosecuted  the  same,  at  great  expense, 
with  unremitted  assiduity,  with  such  prospect  of  success,  that 
they  hope  and  expect  to  complete  the  whole  navigation  within 
the  ten  years  allowed ;  but  that- the  latter  part  of  the  summer, 
12 


178  APPENDIX. 

and  the  fall  of  1785,  were  so  unfavorable,  that  the  hands 
employed  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  above  the  Great  Falls,  were 
often  drove  from  their  work  by  the  rises  of  the  water,  and 
frequently  kept  out  for  several  days  together,  so  that  the  work 
could  not  proceed  as  was  wished  and  expected.  And  the 
last  summer  hath  proved  so  very  rainy,  that  the  water  has 
constantly  kept  up  too  high  to  permit  any  work  to  be  done 
in  the  bed  of  the  river ;  though  the  company  retained  a 
considerable  number  of  men  in  their  service  through  the 
whole  of  the  last  winter,  with  the  view  of  being  prepared  to 
enter  on  the  work  with  great  force,  about  the  20th  of  June, 
the  time  that  the  water  is  commonly  low  enough  for  such 
purpose ;  and  thus,  by  extraordinary  exertion,  to  retrieve 
the  unavoidable  loss  of  time  in  the  preceding  year. 

Your  petitioners,  therefore,  on  behalf  of  the  said  company, 
pray  that  acts  of  the  said  Assemblies  may  be  passed  whereby 
the  said  company  may  be  indulged  with  time  till  the  seven- 
teenth day  of  November,  1790,  or  such  other  time  as  to  your 
Honors  shall  seem  reasonable  for  making  and  improving  the 
navigation  between  the  Great  Falls  and  Fort  Cumberland. 

And  your  petitioners,  &c. 

In  behalf  of  the  Board, 
Signed,  G.  WASHINGTON, 

President. 


* »  • 


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